U.S. patent application number 12/015510 was filed with the patent office on 2008-08-14 for system for scrolling page displayed on a display device.
This patent application is currently assigned to Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd. Invention is credited to Paul Lapstun, Kia Silverbrook.
Application Number | 20080192004 12/015510 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39681171 |
Filed Date | 2008-08-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080192004 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lapstun; Paul ; et
al. |
August 14, 2008 |
SYSTEM FOR SCROLLING PAGE DISPLAYED ON A DISPLAY DEVICE
Abstract
A system for enabling scrolling of a page displayed on a display
device, the system comprising: a substrate having a position-coding
pattern disposed on or in a surface thereof, a sensing device
operable in a plurality of modes including a cursor mode, said
sensing device comprising: an image sensor for optically imaging
the position-coding pattern; and a processor configured for
generating interaction data indicative of an interaction of the
sensing device with the surface, said interaction data being
indicative of a position or movement of the sensing device relative
to the surface; communication means for communicating the
interaction data to a computer system; and the computer system
configured for: receiving the interaction data from the sensing
device; determining that said sensing device is operating in a
cursor mode; determining a scroll zone for said substrate;
determining if said sensing device is positioned within said scroll
zone; interpreting said position or movement of said sensing device
within said scroll zone as a scrolling action; and generating a
scroll control command for said display device so as to scroll said
displayed page.
Inventors: |
Lapstun; Paul; (Balmain,
AU) ; Silverbrook; Kia; (Balmain, AU) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SILVERBROOK RESEARCH PTY LTD
393 DARLING STREET
BALMAIN
2041
omitted
|
Assignee: |
Silverbrook Research Pty
Ltd
|
Family ID: |
39681171 |
Appl. No.: |
12/015510 |
Filed: |
January 17, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60888775 |
Feb 8, 2007 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
345/156 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2203/0384 20130101;
G06K 7/10722 20130101; G06F 3/0321 20130101; G06F 2203/0337
20130101; G06T 7/32 20170101; G06K 19/06 20130101; G06F 3/03545
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
345/156 |
International
Class: |
G09G 5/00 20060101
G09G005/00 |
Claims
1. A system for enabling scrolling of a page displayed on a display
device, the system comprising: a substrate having a position-coding
pattern disposed on or in a surface thereof, a sensing device
operable in a plurality of modes including a cursor mode, said
sensing device comprising: an image sensor for optically imaging
the position-coding pattern; and a processor configured for
generating interaction data indicative of an interaction of the
sensing device with the surface, said interaction data being
indicative of a position or movement of the sensing device relative
to the surface; communication means for communicating the
interaction data to a computer system; and the computer system
configured for: receiving the interaction data from the sensing
device; determining that said sensing device is operating in a
cursor mode; determining a scroll zone for said substrate;
determining if said sensing device is positioned within said scroll
zone; interpreting said position or movement of said sensing device
within said scroll zone as a scrolling action; and generating a
scroll control command for said display device so as to scroll said
displayed page.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing device is operable in
two or more modes selected from the group comprising: said cursor
mode; a hyperlinking mode; a searching mode; a content-extraction
mode; and a handwriting mode.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein said sensing device comprises a
mode selector, and said interaction data comprises mode data
indicative of said cursor mode.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein said mode selector comprises at
least one of: one or more mode buttons operable by a user; and a
sensor for detecting a force exerted by said sensing device on said
surface.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein said computer system is
configured for retrieving stored mode data indicative of a most
recent mode selected for said sensing device.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein said computer system is
configured for at least one of: interpreting at least one absolute
position of said sensing device within said scroll zone to be
indicative of a scroll direction; and interpreting movement of said
sensing device within said scroll zone to be indicative of a scroll
direction.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein said scroll direction is selected
from at least one of: vertical scrolling; horizontal scrolling; and
diagonal scrolling.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein said scroll zone is located at an
edge region of said substrate.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises a
plurality of scroll zones.
10. The system claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises visible
markings indicating at least one of: said scroll zone and a scroll
direction.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein said computer system is further
configured for: determining if said sensing device is positioned
within a cursor zone of said substrate; interpreting movement of
said sensing device as a cursor movement; and generating cursor
control commands for said display device.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein said display device is selected
from at least one of: a display device associated with the computer
system a display device integral with the computer system; and a
display device remote from the computer system.
13. The system of claim 1 further comprising the display
device.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the position-coding pattern is
further indicative of an identity of the substrate and the
interaction data comprises substrate identity data.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein said computer system is
configured for retrieving a page description corresponding to said
substrate using said substrate identity.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein said computer is configured for
retrieving said page description if it is determined that said
sensing device is not operating in said cursor mode.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein said computer system is
configured for: using said position or movement of said sensing
device together with said retrieved page description to interpret
said interaction of said sensing device with said substrate; and
initiate an action corresponding to said interaction.
18. A method of enabling scrolling of a page displayed on a display
device via a substrate having position-coding pattern disposed in
or on a surface thereof, said method comprising, in a computer
system, the steps of: receiving interaction data indicative of an
interaction of the sensing device with the substrate, said
interaction data being indicative of a position or movement of the
sensing device relative to the surface; determining that said
sensing device is operating in a cursor mode; determining a scroll
zone for said substrate; determining if said sensing device is
positioned within a scroll zone of said substrate; interpreting
said position or movement of said sensing device within said scroll
zone as a scrolling action; and generating a scroll control command
for said display device so as to scroll said displayed page.
19. A computer system for controlling scrolling of a page displayed
on a display device, said computer system being configured for:
receiving interaction data indicative of an interaction of the
sensing device with a substrate having a position-coding pattern
disposed on or in a surface thereof, said interaction data being
indicative of a position or movement of the sensing device relative
to the surface; determining that said sensing device is operating
in a cursor mode; determining a scroll zone for said substrate;
determining if said sensing device is positioned within a scroll
zone of said substrate; interpreting said position or movement of
said sensing device within said scroll zone as a scrolling action;
and generating a scroll control command for said display device so
as to scroll said displayed page.
Description
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a method and system for
reading a position-coding pattern disposed on a surface. It has
been developed primarily to improve the functionality of sensing
device used for reading the position-coding pattern.
COPENDING
[0002] The following applications have been filed by the Applicant
simultaneously with the present application: [0003] NPZ025US
NPZ026US NPZ027US NPZ029US NPZ030US NPZ031US
[0004] The disclosures of these co-pending applications are
incorporated herein by reference. The above applications have been
identified by their filing docket number, which will be substituted
with the corresponding application number, once assigned.
CROSS REFERENCES
[0005] The following patents or patent applications filed by the
applicant or assignee of the present invention are hereby
incorporated by cross-reference.
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BACKGROUND
[0006] The Applicant has previously described a method of enabling
users to access information from a computer system via a printed
substrate e.g. paper. The substrate has coded data printed thereon,
which is read by an optical sensing device when the user interacts
with the substrate using the sensing device. A computer receives
interaction data from the sensing device and uses this data to
determine what action is being requested by the user. For example,
a user may make handwritten input onto a form or make a selection
gesture around a printed item. This input is interpreted by the
computer system with reference to a page description corresponding
to the printed substrate.
[0007] It would be desirable to provide a broader range of
functionalities available to the user via the sensing device. It
would be particularly desirable to provide this broader range of
functionalities without introducing a plethora of separate
functional systems into the sensing device.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0008] In a first aspect the present invention provides a system
for controlling movement of a cursor on a display device, the
system comprising: [0009] a substrate having a position-coding
pattern disposed on or in a surface thereof, [0010] a sensing
device comprising: [0011] an image sensor for optically imaging the
position-coding pattern; and [0012] a processor configured for:
[0013] generating absolute motion data by determining a plurality
of absolute positions of the sensing device relative to the surface
using the imaged position-coding pattern; [0014] generating
orientation data indicative of an orientation of the sensing device
relative to the substrate; and [0015] using the orientation data to
translate the absolute motion data into relative motion data, said
relative motion data being indicative of relative motion of the
sensing device from the perspective of a user; and [0016]
communication means for communicating the relative motion data to a
computer system; and [0017] the computer system configured for:
[0018] receiving said relative motion data from the sensing device;
[0019] interpreting said relative motion data as cursor movement;
and [0020] generating cursor control commands for said display
device.
[0021] Optionally, the relative motion data is indicative of
relative position changes of the sensing device substantially from
a perspective of a user, and irrespective of an orientation of said
substrate.
[0022] Optionally, the position-coding pattern comprises a
plurality of tags, each tag identifying a location on the surface
and a rotational orientation of the tag relative to the substrate,
thereby enabling a yaw of the sensing device relative to the
substrate to be determined.
[0023] Optionally, said display device is selected from at least
one of: [0024] a display device associated with the computer system
[0025] a display device integral with the computer system; and
[0026] a display device remote from the computer system.
[0027] Optionally, said sensing device is operable in a plurality
of modes, said plurality including a cursor mode and at least one
other mode, and wherein the computer system is further configured
for: [0028] determining that said sensing device is operating in a
cursor mode.
[0029] Optionally, said at least one other mode is selected from
the group comprising: a scroll mode; a hyperlinking mode; a
searching mode; a content-extraction mode; and a handwriting
mode.
[0030] Optionally, said sensing device comprises a mode selector,
and said interaction data comprises mode data indicative of said
cursor mode.
[0031] Optionally, said mode selector comprises at least one of:
[0032] one or more mode buttons operable by a user; and [0033] a
sensor for detecting a force exerted by said sensing device on said
surface.
[0034] Optionally, said computer system is configured for
retrieving stored mode data indicative of a most recent mode
selected for said sensing device.
[0035] Optionally, said computer system is further configured for:
[0036] determining if said sensing device is positioned within a
cursor zone of said substrate, said cursor zone being activated by
determination of said cursor mode; and [0037] interpreting relative
motion of said sensing device only within said cursor zone as said
cursor movement.
[0038] Optionally, said computer system is further configured for:
[0039] determining if said sensing device is positioned within a
scroll zone of said substrate, said scroll zone being activated by
determination of said cursor mode; and [0040] interpreting the
interaction of said sensing device within said scroll zone as a
scroll action; [0041] scrolling a page displayed on said display
device according to said scroll action.
[0042] Optionally, said computer system is configured for at least
one of: [0043] interpreting at least one absolute position of said
sensing device within said scroll zone to be indicative of a scroll
direction; and [0044] interpreting relative motion of said sensing
device within said scroll zone to be indicative of a scroll
direction.
[0045] Optionally, the position-coding pattern is further
indicative of an identity of the substrate and the interaction data
comprises substrate identity data.
[0046] Optionally, the substrate is a cursor control substrate and
said computer system is configured for using the substrate identity
data to retrieve a cursor page description corresponding to said
cursor control substrate, said cursor page description comprising a
cursor zone within which the interaction of said sensing device is
interpreted as said cursor movement.
[0047] Optionally, said cursor page description comprises a scroll
zone within which the interaction of said sensing device is
interpreted as a scroll action, and wherein said computer system is
configured to scroll a page displayed on said display device
according to said scroll action.
[0048] Optionally, said cursor control substrate has visible
markings indicating at least one of: said cursor zone, said scroll
zone and a scroll direction.
[0049] Optionally, said scroll zone is located at an edge region of
said substrate.
[0050] In a further aspect the present invention provides a method
of controlling movement of a cursor on a display device via a
substrate having a position-coding pattern disposed on or in a
surface thereof, said method comprising the steps of: [0051]
receiving, in a computer system, interaction data indicative of an
interaction of the sensing device with the substrate, said
interaction data comprising: [0052] absolute motion data indicative
of a plurality of absolute positions of the sensing device relative
to the surface; and [0053] orientation data indicative of an
orientation of the sensing device relative to the substrate; and
[0054] using the orientation data to translate the absolute motion
data into relative motion data, said relative motion data being
indicative of position changes of the sensing device relative to
itself, [0055] interpreting said relative motion data as cursor
movement; and [0056] generating cursor control commands for said
display device.
[0057] In another aspect the present invention provides a sensing
device for controlling movement of a cursor on a display device,
said sensing device comprising: [0058] an image sensor for
optically imaging a position-coding pattern disposed on or in a
surface; and [0059] a processor configured for: [0060] generating
absolute motion data by determining a plurality of absolute
positions of the sensing device relative to the surface using the
imaged position-coding pattern; [0061] generating orientation data
indicative of an orientation of the sensing device relative to the
substrate; and [0062] using the orientation data to translate the
absolute motion data into relative motion data, said relative
motion data being indicative of relative motion of the sensing
device from the perspective of a user; and [0063] communication
means for communicating the relative motion data to a computer
system, thereby enabling the computer system to generate cursor
control commands using the relative motion data for controlling
movement of the cursor on the display device.
[0064] In a another aspect the present invention provides a
computer system for controlling movement of a cursor on a display
device via a substrate having a position-coding pattern disposed on
or in a surface thereof, said computer system being configured for:
[0065] receiving interaction data indicative of an interaction of
the sensing device with the substrate, said interaction data
comprising: [0066] absolute motion data indicative of a plurality
of absolute positions of the sensing device relative to the
surface; and [0067] orientation data indicative of an orientation
of the sensing device relative to the substrate; [0068] using the
orientation data to translate the absolute motion data into
relative motion data, said relative motion data being indicative of
position changes of the sensing device relative to itself, [0069]
interpreting said relative motion data as cursor movement; and
[0070] generating cursor control commands for said display
device.
[0071] In a second aspect the present invention provides a sensing
device for interaction with a surface, said sensing device having
automatic mode selection, said sensing device comprising: [0072] an
image sensor for imaging the surface and generating image data;
[0073] a motion sensor configured for determining one or more
relative position changes of the sensing device; [0074] a processor
configured for: [0075] receiving the image data; and [0076]
automatically selecting, using said image data, either an
interaction mode or a cursor mode for said sensing device; and
[0077] communication means for transmitting either interaction data
or cursor data to a computer system, dependent on said selected
mode, wherein said processor is configured to: [0078] select the
interaction mode and generate interaction data from the image data
if said image data indicates that said sensing device is
interacting with a first surface having a position-coding pattern
disposed thereon, said interaction data being indicative of at
least one absolute location of the sensing device relative to the
surface; and [0079] select the cursor mode if said image data
indicates that said sensing device is interacting with a second
surface lacking a position-coding pattern, said cursor data being
indicative of said one or more relative position changes of the
sensing device.
[0080] Optionally, the motion sensor is selected from any one of
the group comprising: at least one accelerometer; a mechanical
mouse; an optical mouse; and a point interferometry device.
[0081] Optionally, said motion sensor is an optical mouse utilizing
at least one of: a pattern-based optical mouse technique; a
texture-based optical mouse technique; and a laser-speckle-based
optical mouse technique.
[0082] Optionally, the position-coding pattern of the first surface
is indicative of a plurality of locations on the surface and of an
identity of a region.
[0083] Optionally, in said interaction mode, said processor is
configured for determining the identity of the region using the
imaged position-coding pattern, and said interaction data is
further indicative of the identity of the region.
[0084] Optionally, the identity of the region is coincident with an
identity of the surface. Optionally, the position-coding pattern is
comprised of a plurality of tags, each tag identifying the identity
of the surface and a location of the tag on the surface.
[0085] In a further aspect the present invention provides a system
for initiating an action corresponding to interaction of a sensing
device relative to a surface, said system comprising:
(A) the sensing device comprising: [0086] an image sensor for
imaging the surface and generating image data; [0087] a motion
sensor configured for determining one or more relative position
changes of the sensing device; [0088] a processor configured for:
[0089] receiving the image data; and [0090] automatically
selecting, using said image data, either an interaction mode or a
cursor mode for said sensing device; and [0091] communication means
for transmitting either interaction data or cursor data to a
computer system, dependent on said selected mode, wherein said
processor is configured to: [0092] select the interaction mode and
generate interaction data if said image data indicates that said
sensing device is interacting with a first surface having a
position-coding pattern disposed thereon, said interaction data
being indicative of an absolute location of the sensing device
relative to the surface; and [0093] select the cursor mode if said
image data indicates that said sensing device is interacting with a
second surface lacking a position-coding pattern, said cursor data
being indicative of said one or more relative position changes of
the sensing device; and (B) the computer system configured for:
[0094] receiving the interaction data and the cursor data from the
sensing device; [0095] interpreting said interaction data to
initiate an action corresponding to said interaction with said
surface; and [0096] interpreting said cursor data to control
movement of a cursor on a display device.
[0097] Optionally, said action initiated by said interaction data
is selected from at least one of: hyperlinking; form-filling;
searching; and content-extraction.
[0098] Optionally, the position-coding pattern of the first surface
is indicative of a plurality of locations on the surface and of an
identity of a region.
[0099] Optionally, in said interaction mode, said processor is
configured for determining the identity of the region using the
imaged position-coding pattern, and said interaction data is
further indicative of the identity of the region.
[0100] Optionally, said computer system is configured to interpret
said interaction data by the steps of: [0101] identifying and
retrieving a page description corresponding to the first surface
using the identity of the region; [0102] determining a request
using the retrieved page description and the interaction data; and
[0103] initiating an action based on said request.
[0104] Optionally, the identity of the region is coincident with an
identity of the surface.
[0105] Optionally, the position-coding pattern is comprised of a
plurality of tags, each tag identifying the identity of the surface
and a location of the tag on the surface.
[0106] Optionally, display device is selected from at least one of:
[0107] a display device associated with the computer system [0108]
a display device integral with the computer system; and [0109] a
display device remote from the computer system.
[0110] In a further aspect the present invention provides a method
of automatically selecting a mode of a sensing device interacting
with a surface, said sensing device comprising a motion sensor
configured for determining one or more relative position changes of
the sensing device, said method comprising the steps of: [0111]
imaging the surface and generating image data; [0112] automatically
selecting, using said image data, either an interaction mode or a
cursor mode for said sensing device; and [0113] transmitting either
interaction data or cursor data to a computer system, dependent on
said selected mode, wherein: [0114] the interaction mode is
selected and the interaction data is generated from the image data
if said image data indicates that said sensing device is
interacting with a first surface having a position-coding pattern
disposed thereon, said interaction data being indicative of at
least one absolute location of the sensing device relative to the
surface; and [0115] the cursor mode is selected and one or more
relative position changes of the sensing device are determined if
said image data indicates that said sensing device is interacting
with a second surface lacking a position-coding pattern, said
cursor data being indicative of said one or more relative position
changes of the sensing device.
[0116] In a further aspect the method further comprising the steps
of: [0117] receiving the interaction data in the computer system;
and [0118] interpreting said interaction data to initiate an action
corresponding to said interaction with said surface.
[0119] In another aspect the method further comprising the steps
of: [0120] receiving the cursor data from the sensing device;
[0121] interpreting said cursor data to control movement of a
cursor on a display device.
[0122] In a third aspect the present invention provides a system
for enabling scrolling of a page displayed on a display device, the
system comprising: [0123] a substrate having a position-coding
pattern disposed on or in a surface thereof, [0124] a sensing
device operable in a plurality of modes including a cursor mode,
said sensing device comprising: [0125] an image sensor for
optically imaging the position-coding pattern; and [0126] a
processor configured for generating interaction data indicative of
an interaction of the sensing device with the surface, said
interaction data being indicative of a position or movement of the
sensing device relative to the surface; [0127] communication means
for communicating the interaction data to a computer system; and
[0128] the computer system configured for: [0129] receiving the
interaction data from the sensing device; [0130] determining that
said sensing device is operating in a cursor mode; [0131]
determining a scroll zone for said substrate; [0132] determining if
said sensing device is positioned within said scroll zone; [0133]
interpreting said position or movement of said sensing device
within said scroll zone as a scrolling action; and [0134]
generating a scroll control command for said display device so as
to scroll said displayed page.
[0135] Optionally, the sensing device is operable in two or more
modes selected from the group comprising: said cursor mode; a
hyperlinking mode; a searching mode; a content-extraction mode; and
a handwriting mode.
[0136] Optionally, said sensing device comprises a mode selector,
and said interaction data comprises mode data indicative of said
cursor mode.
[0137] Optionally, said mode selector comprises at least one of:
[0138] one or more mode buttons operable by a user; and [0139] a
sensor for detecting a force exerted by said sensing device on said
surface.
[0140] Optionally, said computer system is configured for
retrieving stored mode data indicative of a most recent mode
selected for said sensing device.
[0141] Optionally, said computer system is configured for at least
one of: [0142] interpreting at least one absolute position of said
sensing device within said scroll zone to be indicative of a scroll
direction; and [0143] interpreting movement of said sensing device
within said scroll zone to be indicative of a scroll direction.
[0144] Optionally, said scroll direction is selected from at least
one of: [0145] vertical scrolling; [0146] horizontal scrolling; and
[0147] diagonal scrolling.
[0148] Optionally, said scroll zone is located at an edge region of
said substrate.
[0149] Optionally, said substrate comprises a plurality of scroll
zones.
[0150] Optionally, said substrate comprises visible markings
indicating at least one of: said scroll zone and a scroll
direction.
[0151] Optionally, said computer system is further configured for:
[0152] determining if said sensing device is positioned within a
cursor zone of said substrate; [0153] interpreting movement of said
sensing device as a cursor movement; and [0154] generating cursor
control commands for said display device.
[0155] Optionally, said display device is selected from at least
one of: [0156] a display device associated with the computer system
[0157] a display device integral with the computer system; and
[0158] a display device remote from the computer system.
[0159] In a further aspect the system further comprising the
display device.
[0160] Optionally, the position-coding pattern is further
indicative of an identity of the substrate and the interaction data
comprises substrate identity data.
[0161] Optionally, said computer system is configured for
retrieving a page description corresponding to said substrate using
said substrate identity.
[0162] Optionally, said computer is configured for retrieving said
page description if it is determined that said sensing device is
not operating in said cursor mode.
[0163] Optionally, said computer system is configured for: [0164]
using said position or movement of said sensing device together
with said retrieved page description to interpret said interaction
of said sensing device with said substrate; and [0165] initiate an
action corresponding to said interaction.
[0166] In another aspect the present invention provides a method of
enabling scrolling of a page displayed on a display device via a
substrate having position-coding pattern disposed in or on a
surface thereof, said method comprising, in a computer system, the
steps of: [0167] receiving interaction data indicative of an
interaction of the sensing device with the substrate, said
interaction data being indicative of a position or movement of the
sensing device relative to the surface; [0168] determining that
said sensing device is operating in a cursor mode; [0169]
determining a scroll zone for said substrate; [0170] determining if
said sensing device is positioned within a scroll zone of said
substrate; [0171] interpreting said position or movement of said
sensing device within said scroll zone as a scrolling action; and
[0172] generating a scroll control command for said display device
so as to scroll said displayed page.
[0173] In a further aspect the present invention provides a
computer system for controlling scrolling of a page displayed on a
display device, said computer system being configured for: [0174]
receiving interaction data indicative of an interaction of the
sensing device with a substrate having a position-coding pattern
disposed on or in a surface thereof, said interaction data being
indicative of a position or movement of the sensing device relative
to the surface; [0175] determining that said sensing device is
operating in a cursor mode; [0176] determining a scroll zone for
said substrate; [0177] determining if said sensing device is
positioned within a scroll zone of said substrate; [0178]
interpreting said position or movement of said sensing device
within said scroll zone as a scrolling action; and [0179]
generating a scroll control command for said display device so as
to scroll said displayed page.
[0180] In a fourth aspect the present invention provides a system
for enabling user input and control of a cursor on a display
device, the system comprising: [0181] a substrate having a
position-coding pattern disposed on or in a surface thereof, said
substrate having at least one input element and a discrete cursor
zone; [0182] a sensing device comprising: [0183] an image sensor
for optically imaging the position-coding pattern; and [0184] a
processor configured for generating interaction data indicative of
an interaction of the sensing device with the surface, said
interaction data being indicative of a position or movement of the
sensing device relative to the surface; [0185] communication means
for communicating the interaction data to a computer system; and
[0186] the computer system configured for: [0187] receiving the
interaction data from the sensing device; [0188] retrieving a page
description corresponding to said substrate; [0189] determining
whether said sensing device is positioned within said cursor zone;
[0190] interpreting movement of said sensing device within said
cursor zone as a cursor movement and generating corresponding
cursor control commands for said display device; and [0191]
otherwise determining if said position or movement of said sensing
device is within a zone of said at least one input element and
initiating an action corresponding to said at least one input
element.
[0192] Optionally, said at least one user input element is a GUI
control button and said action is a corresponding GUI control
action.
[0193] Optionally, said GUI control action is selected from the
group comprising: scrolling; web browser control; page up; page
down; cut; copy; paste; tab between GUI applications; launching of
a GUI application; volume control; log off; sleep; and keyboard
input.
[0194] Optionally, said substrate is an explicitly dedicated GUI
control substrate, said substrate comprising visible markings
indicating said cursor zone and said at least one GUI control
button.
[0195] Optionally, said at least one input element is a hyperlink
element, and said action is hyperlinking.
[0196] Optionally, said substrate comprises a scroll zone, and said
computer system is configured for interpreting a position or
movement of said sensing device within said scroll zone to be
indicative of a scrolling action.
[0197] Optionally, said computer system is configured for at least
one of: [0198] interpreting at least one absolute position of said
sensing device within said scroll zone to be indicative of a scroll
direction; and [0199] interpreting movement of said sensing device
within said scroll zone to be indicative of a scroll direction.
[0200] Optionally, said scroll direction is selected from at least
one of: [0201] vertical scrolling; [0202] horizontal scrolling; and
[0203] diagonal scrolling.
[0204] Optionally, said substrate comprises a plurality of scroll
zones.
[0205] Optionally, said substrate comprises visible markings
indicating at least one of: said scroll zone and a scroll
direction.
[0206] Optionally, said computer system is configured for
interpreting movement of said sensing device within said cursor
zone as relative movement.
[0207] Optionally, said computer system is configured for
interpreting the position or movement of said sensing device
outside said cursor zone as an absolute position or movement
relative to the surface.
[0208] Optionally, said display device is selected from at least
one of: [0209] a display device associated with the computer system
[0210] a display device integral with the computer system; and
[0211] a display device remote from the computer system.
[0212] In a further aspect the system further comprising the
display device.
[0213] Optionally, the position-coding pattern is further
indicative of an identity of the substrate and the interaction data
comprises substrate identity data.
[0214] Optionally, said computer system is configured for
retrieving the page description corresponding to said substrate
using said substrate identity.
[0215] In another aspect the present invention provides a method of
enabling user input and control of a cursor on a display device via
a substrate having position-coding pattern disposed in or on a
surface thereof, said substrate having at least one input element
and a discrete cursor zone, said method comprising, in a computer
system, the steps of: [0216] receiving interaction data indicative
of an interaction of the sensing device with the substrate, said
interaction data being indicative of a position or movement of the
sensing device relative to the surface; [0217] retrieving a page
description corresponding to said substrate; [0218] determining
whether said sensing device is positioned within said cursor zone;
[0219] interpreting movement of said sensing device within said
cursor zone as a cursor movement and generating corresponding
cursor control commands for said display device; and [0220]
otherwise determining if said position or movement of said sensing
device is within a zone of said at least one input element and
initiating an action corresponding to said at least one input
element.
[0221] In a further aspect the present invention provides a
computer system for enabling user input and control of a cursor on
a display device via a substrate having position-coding pattern
disposed in or on a surface thereof, said substrate comprising at
least one input element and a discrete cursor zone, said computer
system being configured for: [0222] receiving interaction data
indicative of an interaction of the sensing device with the
substrate, said interaction data being indicative of a position or
movement of the sensing device relative to the surface; [0223]
retrieving a page description corresponding to said substrate;
[0224] determining whether said sensing device is positioned within
said cursor zone; [0225] interpreting movement of said sensing
device within said cursor zone as a cursor movement and generating
corresponding cursor control commands for said display device; and
[0226] otherwise determining if said position or movement of said
sensing device is within a zone of said at least one input element
and initiating an action corresponding to said at least one input
element.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0227] Preferred and other embodiments of the invention will now be
described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0228] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of basic netpage
architecture;
[0229] FIG. 2 is a schematic of a the relationship between a sample
printed netpage and its online page description;
[0230] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of basic netpage architecture
with various alternatives for the relay device;
[0231] FIG. 3A illustrates a collection of netpage servers, Web
terminals, printers and relays interconnected via a network;
[0232] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a high-level structure of a
printed netpage and its online page description;
[0233] FIG. 5A is a plan view showing a structure of a netpage
tag;
[0234] FIG. 5B is a plan view showing a relationship between a set
of the tags shown in FIG. 5a and a field of view of a netpage
sensing device in the form of a netpage pen;
[0235] FIG. 6A is a plan view showing an alternative structure of a
netpage tag;
[0236] FIG. 6B is a plan view showing a relationship between a set
of the tags shown in FIG. 6a and a field of view of a netpage
sensing device in the form of a netpage pen;
[0237] FIG. 6C is a plan view showing an arrangement of nine of the
tags shown in FIG. 6a where targets are shared between adjacent
tags;
[0238] FIG. 6D is a plan view showing the interleaving and rotation
of the symbols of the four codewords of the tag shown in FIG.
6a;
[0239] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a tag image processing and decoding
algorithm;
[0240] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a netpage pen and its
associated tag-sensing field-of-view cone;
[0241] FIG. 9 is a perspective exploded view of the netpage pen
shown in FIG. 8;
[0242] FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a pen controller for
the netpage pen shown in FIGS. 8 and 9;
[0243] FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a pen class diagram;
[0244] FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a document and page
description class diagram;
[0245] FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a document and page ownership
class diagram;
[0246] FIG. 14 is a schematic view of a terminal element
specialization class diagram;
[0247] FIG. 15 shows cursor control and scroll functions mapped
onto an arbitrary page;
[0248] FIG. 16 shows an explicit cursor control and scroll page;
and
[0249] FIG. 17 shows an explicit cursor control, scroll and
keyboard page.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS
[0250] Note: Memjet.TM. is a trade mark of Silverbrook Research Pty
Ltd, Australia.
[0251] In the preferred embodiment, the invention is configured to
work with the netpage networked computer system, a detailed
overview of which follows. It will be appreciated that not every
implementation will necessarily embody all or even most of the
specific details and extensions discussed below in relation to the
basic system. However, the system is described in its most complete
form to reduce the need for external reference when attempting to
understand the context in which the preferred embodiments and
aspects of the present invention operate.
[0252] In brief summary, the preferred form of the netpage system
employs a computer interface in the form of a mapped surface, that
is, a physical surface which contains references to a map of the
surface maintained in a computer system. The map references can be
queried by an appropriate sensing device. Depending upon the
specific implementation, the map references may be encoded visibly
or invisibly, and defined in such a way that a local query on the
mapped surface yields an unambiguous map reference both within the
map and among different maps. The computer system can contain
information about features on the mapped surface, and such
information can be retrieved based on map references supplied by a
sensing device used with the mapped surface. The information thus
retrieved can take the form of actions which are initiated by the
computer system on behalf of the operator in response to the
operator's interaction with the surface features.
[0253] In its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the
production of, and human interaction with, netpages. These are
pages of text, graphics and images printed on ordinary paper, but
which work like interactive webpages. Information is encoded on
each page using ink which is substantially invisible to the unaided
human eye. The ink, however, and thereby the coded data, can be
sensed by an optically imaging sensing device and transmitted to
the netpage system. The sensing device may take the form of a
clicker (for clicking on a specific position on a surface), a
pointer having a stylus (for pointing or gesturing on a surface
using pointer strokes), or a pen having a marking nib (for marking
a surface with ink when pointing, gesturing or writing on the
surface). References herein to "pen" or "netpage pen" are provided
by way of example only. It will, of course, be appreciated that the
pen may take the form of any of the sensing devices described
above.
[0254] In one embodiment, active buttons and hyperlinks on each
page can be clicked with the sensing device to request information
from the network or to signal preferences to a network server. In
one embodiment, text written by hand on a netpage is automatically
recognized and converted to computer text in the netpage system,
allowing forms to be filled in. In other embodiments, signatures
recorded on a netpage are automatically verified, allowing
e-commerce transactions to be securely authorized. In other
embodiments, text on a netpage may be clicked or gestured to
initiate a search based on keywords indicated by the user.
[0255] As illustrated in FIG. 2, a printed netpage 1 can represent
a interactive form which can be filled in by the user both
physically, on the printed page, and "electronically", via
communication between the pen and the netpage system. The example
shows a "Request" form containing name and address fields and a
submit button. The netpage consists of graphic data 2 printed using
visible ink, and coded data 3 printed as a collection of tags 4
using invisible ink. The corresponding page description 5, stored
on the netpage network, describes the individual elements of the
netpage. In particular it describes the type and spatial extent
(zone) of each interactive element (i.e. text field or button in
the example), to allow the netpage system to correctly interpret
input via the netpage. The submit button 6, for example, has a zone
7 which corresponds to the spatial extent of the corresponding
graphic 8.
[0256] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, a netpage sensing device
101, such as the pen shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and described in more
detail below, works in conjunction with a netpage relay device 601,
which is an Internet-connected device for home, office or mobile
use. The pen is wireless and communicates securely with the netpage
relay device 601 via a short-range radio link 9. In an alternative
embodiment, the netpage pen 101 utilises a wired connection, such
as a USB or other serial connection, to the relay device 601.
[0257] The relay device 601 performs the basic function of relaying
interaction data to a page server 10, which interprets the
interaction data. As shown in FIG. 3, the relay device 601 may, for
example, take the form of a personal computer 601a, a netpage
printer 601b or some other relay 601c.
[0258] The netpage printer 601b is able to deliver, periodically or
on demand, personalized newspapers, magazines, catalogs, brochures
and other publications, all printed at high quality as interactive
netpages. Unlike a personal computer, the netpage printer is an
appliance which can be, for example, wall-mounted adjacent to an
area where the morning news is first consumed, such as in a user's
kitchen, near a breakfast table, or near the household's point of
departure for the day. It also comes in tabletop, desktop, portable
and miniature versions. Netpages printed on-demand at their point
of consumption combine the ease-of-use of paper with the timeliness
and interactivity of an interactive medium.
[0259] Alternatively, the netpage relay device 601 may be a
portable device, such as a mobile phone or PDA, a laptop or desktop
computer, or an information appliance connected to a shared
display, such as a TV. If the relay device 601 is not a netpage
printer 601b which prints netpages digitally and on demand, the
netpages may be printed by traditional analog printing presses,
using such techniques as offset lithography, flexography, screen
printing, relief printing and rotogravure, as well as by digital
printing presses, using techniques such as drop-on-demand inkjet,
continuous inkjet, dye transfer, and laser printing.
[0260] As shown in FIG. 3, the netpage sensing device 101 interacts
with the coded data on a printed netpage 1, or other printed
substate such as a label of a product item 251, and communicates,
via a short-range radio link 9, the interaction to the relay 601.
The relay 601 sends corresponding interaction data to the relevant
netpage page server 10 for interpretation. Raw data received from
the sensing device 101 may be relayed directly to the page server
10 as interaction data. Alternatively, the interaction data may be
encoded in the form of an interaction URI and transmitted to the
page server 10 via a user's web browser. Of course, the relay
device 601 (e.g. mobile phone) may incorporate a web browser and a
display device.
[0261] Interpretation of the interaction data by the page server 10
may result in direct access to information requested by the user.
This information may be sent from the page server 10 to, for
example, a user's display device (e.g. a display device associated
with the relay device 601). The information sent to the user may be
in the form of a webpage constructed by the page server 10 and the
webpage may be constructed using information from external web
services 200 (e.g. search engines) or local web resources
accessible by the page server 10. In some circumstances, the page
server 10 may access application computer software running on a
netpage application server 13.
[0262] Alternatively, and as shown explicitly in FIG. 1, a two-step
information retrieval process may be employed. Interaction data is
sent from the sensing device 101 to the relay device 601 in the
usual way. The relay device 601 then sends the interaction data to
the page server 10 for interpretation with reference to the
relevant page description 5. Then, the page server 10 forms a
request (typically in the form of a request URI) and sends this
request URI back to the user's relay device 601. A web browser
running on the relay device 601 then sends the request URI to a
netpage web server 201, which interprets the request. The netpage
web server 201 may interact with local web resources and external
web services 200 to interpret the request and construct a webpage.
Once the webpage has been constructed by the netpage web server
201, it is transmitted to the web browser running on the user's
relay device 601, which typically displays the webpage. This system
architecture is particulary useful for performing searching via
netpages, as described in our earlier U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 11/672,950 filed on Feb. 8, 2007 (the contents of which is
incorporated by reference). For example, the request URI may encode
search query terms, which are searched via the netpage web server
201.
[0263] The netpage relay device 601 can be configured to support
any number of sensing devices, and a sensing device can work with
any number of netpage relays. In the preferred implementation, each
netpage sensing device 101 has a unique identifier. This allows
each user to maintain a distinct profile with respect to a netpage
page server 10 or application server 13.
[0264] Digital, on-demand delivery of netpages 1 may be performed
by the netpage printer 601b, which exploits the growing
availability of broadband Internet access. Netpage publication
servers 14 on the netpage network are configured to deliver
print-quality publications to netpage printers. Periodical
publications are delivered automatically to subscribing netpage
printers via pointcasting and multicasting Internet protocols.
Personalized publications are filtered and formatted according to
individual user profiles.
[0265] A netpage pen may be registered with a netpage registration
server 11 and linked to one or more payment card accounts. This
allows e-commerce payments to be securely authorized using the
netpage pen. The netpage registration server compares the signature
captured by the netpage pen with a previously registered signature,
allowing it to authenticate the user's identity to an e-commerce
server. Other biometrics can also be used to verify identity. One
version of the netpage pen includes fingerprint scanning, verified
in a similar way by the netpage registration server.
Netpage System Architecture
[0266] Each object model in the system is described using a Unified
Modeling Language (UML) class diagram. A class diagram consists of
a set of object classes connected by relationships, and two kinds
of relationships are of interest here: associations and
generalizations. An association represents some kind of
relationship between objects, i.e. between instances of classes. A
generalization relates actual classes, and can be understood in the
following way: if a class is thought of as the set of all objects
of that class, and class A is a generalization of class B, then B
is simply a subset of A. The UML does not directly support
second-order modelling--i.e. classes of classes.
[0267] Each class is drawn as a rectangle labelled with the name of
the class. It contains a list of the attributes of the class,
separated from the name by a horizontal line, and a list of the
operations of the class, separated from the attribute list by a
horizontal line. In the class diagrams which follow, however,
operations are never modelled.
[0268] An association is drawn as a line joining two classes,
optionally labelled at either end with the multiplicity of the
association. The default multiplicity is one. An asterisk (*)
indicates a multiplicity of "many", i.e. zero or more. Each
association is optionally labelled with its name, and is also
optionally labelled at either end with the role of the
corresponding class. An open diamond indicates an aggregation
association ("is-part-of"), and is drawn at the aggregator end of
the association line.
[0269] A generalization relationship ("is-a") is drawn as a solid
line joining two classes, with an arrow (in the form of an open
triangle) at the generalization end.
[0270] When a class diagram is broken up into multiple diagrams,
any class which is duplicated is shown with a dashed outline in all
but the main diagram which defines it. It is shown with attributes
only where it is defined.
1 Netpages
[0271] Netpages are the foundation on which a netpage network is
built. They provide a paper-based user interface to published
information and interactive services.
[0272] A netpage consists of a printed page (or other surface
region) invisibly tagged with references to an online description
of the page. The online page description is maintained persistently
by the netpage page server 10. The page description describes the
visible layout and content of the page, including text, graphics
and images. It also describes the input elements on the page,
including buttons, hyperlinks, and input fields. A netpage allows
markings made with a netpage pen on its surface to be
simultaneously captured and processed by the netpage system.
[0273] Multiple netpages (for example, those printed by analog
printing presses) can share the same page description. However, to
allow input through otherwise identical pages to be distinguished,
each netpage may be assigned a unique page identifier. This page ID
has sufficient precision to distinguish between a very large number
of netpages.
[0274] Each reference to the page description is encoded in a
printed tag. The tag identifies the unique page on which it
appears, and thereby indirectly identifies the page description.
The tag also identifies its own position on the page.
Characteristics of the tags are described in more detail below.
[0275] Tags are typically printed in infrared-absorptive ink on any
substrate which is infrared-reflective, such as ordinary paper, or
in infrared fluorescing ink. Near-infrared wavelengths are
invisible to the human eye but are easily sensed by a solid-state
image sensor with an appropriate filter.
[0276] A tag is sensed by a 2D area image sensor in the netpage
sensing device, and the tag data is transmitted to the netpage
system via the nearest netpage relay device. The pen is wireless
and communicates with the netpage relay device via a short-range
radio link. Tags are sufficiently small and densely arranged that
the sensing device can reliably image at least one tag even on a
single click on the page. It is important that the pen recognize
the page ID and position on every interaction with the page, since
the interaction is stateless. Tags are error-correctably encoded to
make them partially tolerant to surface damage.
[0277] The netpage page server 10 maintains a unique page instance
for each unique printed netpage, allowing it to maintain a distinct
set of user-supplied values for input fields in the page
description for each printed netpage.
[0278] The relationship between the page description, the page
instance, and the printed netpage is shown in FIG. 4. The printed
netpage may be part of a printed netpage document 45. The page
instance may be associated with both the netpage printer which
printed it and, if known, the netpage user who requested it. [0279]
2 NETPAGE TAGS [0280] 2.1 Tag Data Content
[0281] In a preferred form, each tag identifies the region in which
it appears, and the location of that tag within the region and an
orientation of the tag relative to a substrate on which the tag is
printed. A tag may also contain flags which relate to the region as
a whole or to the tag. One or more flag bits may, for example,
signal a tag sensing device to provide feedback indicative of a
function associated with the immediate area of the tag, without the
sensing device having to refer to a description of the region. A
netpage pen may, for example, illuminate an "active area" LED when
in the zone of a hyperlink.
[0282] As will be more clearly explained below, in a preferred
embodiment, each tag typically contains an easily recognized
invariant structure which aids initial detection, and which assists
in minimizing the effect of any warp induced by the surface or by
the sensing process. The tags preferably tile the entire page, and
are sufficiently small and densely arranged that the pen can
reliably image at least one tag even on a single click on the page.
It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on
every interaction with the page, since the interaction is
stateless.
[0283] In a preferred embodiment, the region to which a tag refers
coincides with an entire page, and the region ID encoded in the tag
is therefore synonymous with the page ID of the page on which the
tag appears. In other embodiments, the region to which a tag refers
can be an arbitrary subregion of a page or other surface. For
example, it can coincide with the zone of an interactive element,
in which case the region ID can directly identify the interactive
element.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 1 Tag data Field Precision (bits) Page
ID/Region ID 100 Tag ID/x-y coordinates 16 Flags 4 Total 120
[0284] Each tag contains 120 bits of information, typically
allocated as shown in Table 1. Assuming a maximum tag density of 64
per square inch, a 16-bit tag ID supports a region size of up to
1024 square inches. Larger regions can be mapped continuously
without increasing the tag ID precision simply by using abutting
regions and maps. The 100-bit region ID allows 2100
(.about.10.sup.30 or a million trillion trillion) different regions
to be uniquely identified.
2.2 Tag Data Encoding
[0285] The 120 bits of tag data are redundantly encoded using a
(15, 5) Reed-Solomon code. This yields 360 encoded bits consisting
of 6 codewords of 15 4-bit symbols each. The (15, 5) code allows up
to 5 symbol errors to be corrected per codeword, i.e. it is
tolerant of a symbol error rate of up to 33% per codeword.
[0286] Each 4-bit symbol is represented in a spatially coherent way
in the tag, and the symbols of the six codewords are interleaved
spatially within the tag. This ensures that a burst error (an error
affecting multiple spatially adjacent bits) damages a minimum
number of symbols overall and a minimum number of symbols in any
one codeword, thus maximising the likelihood that the burst error
can be fully corrected.
[0287] Any suitable error-correcting code code can be used in place
of a (15, 5) Reed-Solomon code, for example a Reed-Solomon code
with more or less redundancy, with the same or different symbol and
codeword sizes; another block code; or a different kind of code,
such as a convolutional code (see, for example, Stephen B. Wicker,
Error Control Systems for Digital Communication and Storage,
Prentice-Hall 1995, the contents of which a herein incorporated by
cross-reference).
2.3 Physical Tag Structure
[0288] The physical representation of the tag, shown in FIG. 5a,
includes fixed target structures 15, 16, 17 and variable data areas
18. The fixed target structures allow a sensing device such as the
netpage pen to detect the tag and infer its three-dimensional
orientation relative to the sensor. The data areas contain
representations of the individual bits of the encoded tag data.
[0289] To achieve proper tag reproduction, the tag is rendered at a
resolution of 256.times.256 dots. When printed at 1600 dots per
inch this yields a tag with a diameter of about 4 mm. At this
resolution the tag is designed to be surrounded by a "quiet area"
of radius 16 dots. Since the quiet area is also contributed by
adjacent tags, it only adds 16 dots to the effective diameter of
the tag.
[0290] The tag may include a plurality of target structures. A
detection ring 15 allows the sensing device to initially detect the
tag. The ring is easy to detect because it is rotationally
invariant and because a simple correction of its aspect ratio
removes most of the effects of perspective distortion. An
orientation axis 16 allows the sensing device to determine the
approximate planar orientation of the tag due to the yaw of the
sensor. The orientation axis is skewed to yield a unique
orientation. Four perspective targets 17 allow the sensing device
to infer an accurate two-dimensional perspective transform of the
tag and hence an accurate three-dimensional position and
orientation of the tag relative to the sensor.
[0291] All target structures are redundantly large to improve their
immunity to noise.
[0292] In order to support "single-click" interaction with a tagged
region via a sensing device, the sensing device must be able to see
at least one entire tag in its field of view no matter where in the
region or at what orientation it is positioned. The required
diameter of the field of view of the sensing device is therefore a
function of the size and spacing of the tags.
[0293] Thus, if a tag has a circular shape, the minimum diameter of
the sensor field of view is obtained when the tags are tiled on a
equilateral triangular grid, as shown in FIG. 5b.
2.4 Tag Image Processing and Decoding
[0294] The tag image processing and decoding performed by a sensing
device such as the netpage pen is shown in FIG. 7. While a captured
image is being acquired from the image sensor, the dynamic range of
the image is determined (at 20). The center of the range is then
chosen as the binary threshold for the image 21. The image is then
thresholded and segmented into connected pixel regions (i.e. shapes
23) (at 22). Shapes which are too small to represent tag target
structures are discarded. The size and centroid of each shape is
also computed.
[0295] Binary shape moments 25 are then computed (at 24) for each
shape, and these provide the basis for subsequently locating target
structures. Central shape moments are by their nature invariant of
position, and can be easily made invariant of scale, aspect ratio
and rotation.
[0296] The ring target structure 15 is the first to be located (at
26). A ring has the advantage of being very well behaved when
perspective-distorted. Matching proceeds by aspect-normalizing and
rotation-normalizing each shape's moments. Once its second-order
moments are normalized the ring is easy to recognize even if the
perspective distortion was significant. The ring's original aspect
and rotation 27 together provide a useful approximation of the
perspective transform.
[0297] The axis target structure 16 is the next to be located (at
28). Matching proceeds by applying the ring's normalizations to
each shape's moments, and rotation-normalizing the resulting
moments. Once its second-order moments are normalized the axis
target is easily recognized. Note that one third order moment is
required to disambiguate the two possible orientations of the axis.
The shape is deliberately skewed to one side to make this possible.
Note also that it is only possible to rotation-normalize the axis
target after it has had the ring's normalizations applied, since
the perspective distortion can hide the axis target's axis. The
axis target's original rotation provides a useful approximation of
the tag's rotation due to pen yaw 29.
[0298] The four perspective target structures 17 are the last to be
located (at 30). Good estimates of their positions are computed
based on their known spatial relationships to the ring and axis
targets, the aspect and rotation of the ring, and the rotation of
the axis. Matching proceeds by applying the ring's normalizations
to each shape's moments. Once their second-order moments are
normalized the circular perspective targets are easy to recognize,
and the target closest to each estimated position is taken as a
match. The original centroids of the four perspective targets are
then taken to be the perspective-distorted corners 31 of a square
of known size in tag space, and an eight-degree-of-freedom
perspective transform 33 is inferred (at 32) based on solving the
well-understood equations relating the four tag-space and
image-space point pairs (see Heckbert, P., Fundamentals of Texture
Mapping and Image Warping, Masters Thesis, Dept. of EECS, U. of
California at Berkeley, Technical Report No. UCB/CSD 89/516, June
1989, the contents of which are herein incorporated by
cross-reference).
[0299] The inferred tag-space to image-space perspective transform
is used to project (at 36) each known data bit position in tag
space into image space where the real-valued position is used to
bilinearly interpolate (at 36) the four relevant adjacent pixels in
the input image. The previously computed image threshold 21 is used
to threshold the result to produce the final bit value 37.
[0300] Once all 360 data bits 37 have been obtained in this way,
each of the six 60-bit Reed-Solomon codewords is decoded (at 38) to
yield 20 decoded bits 39, or 120 decoded bits in total. Note that
the codeword symbols are sampled in codeword order, so that
codewords are implicitly de-interleaved during the sampling
process.
[0301] The ring target 15 is only sought in a subarea of the image
whose relationship to the image guarantees that the ring, if found,
is part of a complete tag. If a complete tag is not found and
successfully decoded, then no pen position is recorded for the
current frame. Given adequate processing power and ideally a
non-minimal field of view 193, an alternative strategy involves
seeking another tag in the current image.
[0302] The obtained tag data indicates the identity of the region
containing the tag and the position of the tag within the region.
An accurate position 35 of the pen nib in the region, as well as
the overall orientation 35 of the pen, is then inferred (at 34)
from the perspective transform 33 observed on the tag and the known
spatial relationship between the image sensor (containing the
optical axis of the pen) and the nib (which typically contains the
physical axis of the pen). The image sensor is usually offset from
the nib.
2.5 Alternative Tag Structures The tag structure described above is
designed to support the tagging of non-planar surfaces where a
regular tiling of tags may not be possible. In the more usual case
of planar surfaces where a regular tiling of tags is possible, i.e.
surfaces such as sheets of paper and the like, more efficient tag
structures can be used which exploit the regular nature of the
tiling.
[0303] FIG. 6a shows a square tag 4 with four perspective targets
17. The tag represents sixty 4-bit Reed-Solomon symbols 47, for a
total of 240 bits. The tag represents each one bit as a dot 48, and
each zero bit by the absence of the corresponding dot. The
perspective targets are designed to be shared between adjacent
tags, as shown in FIGS. 6b and 6c. FIG. 6b shows a square tiling of
16 tags and the corresponding minimum field of view 193, which must
span the diagonals of two tags. FIG. 6c shows a square tiling of
nine tags, containing all one bits for illustration purposes.
[0304] Using a (15, 7) Reed-Solomon code, 112 bits of tag data are
redundantly encoded to produce 240 encoded bits. The four codewords
are interleaved spatially within the tag to maximize resilience to
burst errors. Assuming a 16-bit tag ID as before, this allows a
region ID of up to 92 bits.
[0305] The data-bearing dots 48 of the tag are designed to not
overlap their neighbors, so that groups of tags cannot produce
structures which resemble targets. This also saves ink. The
perspective targets therefore allow detection of the tag, so
further targets are not required. Tag image processing proceeds as
described in section 1.2.4 above, with the exception that steps 26
and 28 are omitted.
[0306] Although the tag may contain an orientation feature to allow
disambiguation of the four possible orientations of the tag
relative to the sensor, it is also possible to embed orientation
data in the tag data. For example, the four codewords can be
arranged so that each tag orientation contains one codeword placed
at that orientation, as shown in FIG. 6d, where each symbol is
labelled with the number of its codeword (1-4) and the position of
the symbol within the codeword (A-O). Tag decoding then consists of
decoding one codeword at each orientation. Each codeword can either
contain a single bit indicating whether it is the first codeword,
or two bits indicating which codeword it is. The latter approach
has the advantage that if, say, the data content of only one
codeword is required, then at most two codewords need to be decoded
to obtain the desired data. This may be the case if the region ID
is not expected to change within a stroke and is thus only decoded
at the start of a stroke. Within a stroke only the codeword
containing the tag ID is then desired. Furthermore, since the
rotation of the sensing device changes slowly and predictably
within a stroke, only one codeword typically needs to be decoded
per frame.
[0307] It is possible to dispense with perspective targets
altogether and instead rely on the data representation being
self-registering. In this case each bit value (or multi-bit value)
is typically represented by an explicit glyph, i.e. no bit value is
represented by the absence of a glyph. This ensures that the data
grid is well-populated, and thus allows the grid to be reliably
identified and its perspective distortion detected and subsequently
corrected during data sampling. To allow tag boundaries to be
detected, each tag data must contain a marker pattern, and these
must be redundantly encoded to allow reliable detection. The
overhead of such marker patterns is similar to the overhead of
explicit perspective targets. One such scheme uses dots positioned
a various points relative to grid vertices to represent different
glyphs and hence different multi-bit values (see Anoto Technology
Description, Anoto April 2000).
[0308] Additional tag structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
6,929,186 ("Orientation-indicating machine-readable coded data")
filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention and the
contents of which is herein incorporated by reference.
2.6 Tag Map
[0309] Decoding a tag typically results in a region ID, a tag ID,
and a tag-relative pen transform. Before the tag ID and the
tag-relative pen location can be translated into an absolute
location within the tagged region, the location of the tag within
the region must be known. This is given by a tag map, a function
which maps each tag ID in a tagged region to a corresponding
location. The tag map class diagram is shown in FIG. 22, as part of
the netpage printer class diagram.
[0310] A tag map reflects the scheme used to tile the surface
region with tags, and this can vary according to surface type. When
multiple tagged regions share the same tiling scheme and the same
tag numbering scheme, they can also share the same tag map.
[0311] The tag map for a region must be retrievable via the region
ID. Thus, given a region ID, a tag ID and a pen transform, the tag
map can be retrieved, the tag ID can be translated into an absolute
tag location within the region, and the tag-relative pen location
can be added to the tag location to yield an absolute pen location
within the region.
[0312] The tag ID may have a structure which assists translation
through the tag map. It may, for example, encode Cartesian (x-y)
coordinates or polar coordinates, depending on the surface type on
which it appears. The tag ID structure is dictated by and known to
the tag map, and tag IDs associated with different tag maps may
therefore have different structures.
[0313] With the tagging scheme described above, the tags usually
function in cooperation with associated visual elements on the
netpage. These function as user interactive elements in that a user
can interact with the printed page using an appropriate sensing
device in order for tag data to be read by the sensing device and
for an appropriate response to be generated in the netpage
system.
[0314] Additionally (or alternatively), decoding a tag may be used
to provide orientation data indicative of the yaw of the pen
relative to the surface. The orientation data may be determined
using, for example, the orientation axis 16 described above
(Section 2.3) or orientation data embedded in the tag data (Section
2.5).
3 Document and Page Descriptions
[0315] A preferred embodiment of a document and page description
class diagram is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.
[0316] In the netpage system a document is described at three
levels. At the most abstract level the document 836 has a
hierarchical structure whose terminal elements 839 are associated
with content objects 840 such as text objects, text style objects,
image objects, etc. Once the document is printed on a printer with
a particular page size, the document is paginated and otherwise
formatted. Formatted terminal elements 835 will in some cases be
associated with content objects which are different from those
associated with their corresponding terminal elements, particularly
where the content objects are style-related. Each printed instance
of a document and page is also described separately, to allow input
captured through a particular page instance 830 to be recorded
separately from input captured through other instances of the same
page description.
[0317] The presence of the most abstract document description on
the page server allows a copy of a document to be printed without
being forced to accept the source document's specific format. The
user or a printing press may be requesting a copy for a printer
with a different page size, for example. Conversely, the presence
of the formatted document description on the page server allows the
page server to efficiently interpret user actions on a particular
printed page. A formatted document 834 consists of a set of
formatted page descriptions 5, each of which consists of a set of
formatted terminal elements 835. Each formatted element has a
spatial extent or zone 58 on the page. This defines the active area
of input elements such as hyperlinks and input fields.
[0318] A document instance 831 corresponds to a formatted document
834. It consists of a set of page instances 830, each of which
corresponds to a page description 5 of the formatted document. Each
page instance 830 describes a single unique printed netpage 1, and
records the page ID 50 of the netpage. A page instance is not part
of a document instance if it represents a copy of a page requested
in isolation.
[0319] A page instance consists of a set of terminal element
instances 832. An element instance only exists if it records
instance-specific information. Thus, a hyperlink instance exists
for a hyperlink element because it records a transaction ID 55
which is specific to the page instance, and a field instance exists
for a field element because it records input specific to the page
instance. An element instance does not exist, however, for static
elements such as textflows.
[0320] A terminal element 839 can be a visual element or an input
element. A visual element can be a static element 843 or a dynamic
element 846. An input element may be, for example, a hyperlink
element 844 or a field element 845, as shown in FIG. 14. Other
types of input element are of course possible, such a input
elements, which select a particular mode of the pen 101.
[0321] A page instance has a background field 833 which is used to
record any digital ink captured on the page which does not apply to
a specific input element.
[0322] In the preferred form of the invention, a tag map 811 is
associated with each page instance to allow tags on the page to be
translated into locations on the page.
4 The Netpage Network
[0323] In one embodiment, a netpage network consists of a
distributed set of netpage page servers 10, netpage registration
servers 11, netpage ID servers 12, netpage application servers 13,
and netpage relay devices 601 connected via a network 19 such as
the Internet, as shown in FIG. 3.
[0324] The netpage registration server 11 is a server which records
relationships between users, pens, printers and applications, and
thereby authorizes various network activities. It authenticates
users and acts as a signing proxy on behalf of authenticated users
in application transactions. It also provides handwriting
recognition services. As described above, a netpage page server 10
maintains persistent information about page descriptions and page
instances. The netpage network includes any number of page servers,
each handling a subset of page instances.
[0325] Since a page server also maintains user input values for
each page instance, clients such as netpage relays 601 send netpage
input directly to the appropriate page server. The page server
interprets any such input relative to the description of the
corresponding page. A netpage ID server 12 allocates document IDs
51 on demand, and provides load-balancing of page servers via its
ID allocation scheme.
[0326] A netpage relay 601 uses the Internet Distributed Name
System (DNS), or similar, to resolve a netpage page ID 50 into the
network address of the netpage page server 10 handling the
corresponding page instance.
[0327] A netpage application server 13 is a server which hosts
interactive netpage applications.
[0328] Netpage servers can be hosted on a variety of network server
platforms from manufacturers such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun.
Multiple netpage servers can run concurrently on a single host, and
a single server can be distributed over a number of hosts. Some or
all of the functionality provided by netpage servers, and in
particular the functionality provided by the ID server and the page
server, can also be provided directly in a netpage appliance such
as a netpage printer, in a computer workstation, or on a local
network.
5. The Netpage Pen
[0329] The active sensing device of the netpage system may take the
form of a clicker (for clicking on a specific position on a
surface), a pointer having a stylus (for pointing or gesturing on a
surface using pointer strokes), or a pen having a marking nib (for
marking a surface with ink when pointing, gesturing or writing on
the surface). A pen 101 is described herein, although it will be
appreciated that clickers and pointers may have similar features.
The pen 101 uses its embedded controller 134 to capture and decode
netpage tags from a page via an image sensor. The image sensor is a
solid-state device provided with an appropriate filter to permit
sensing at only near-infrared wavelengths. As described in more
detail below, the system is able to sense when the nib is in
contact with the surface, and the pen is able to sense tags at a
sufficient rate to capture human handwriting (i.e. at 200 dpi or
greater and 100 Hz or faster). Information captured by the pen may
be encrypted and wirelessly transmitted to the printer (or base
station), the printer or base station interpreting the data with
respect to the (known) page structure.
[0330] The preferred embodiment of the netpage pen 101 operates
both as a normal marking ink pen and as a non-marking stylus (i.e.
as a pointer). The marking aspect, however, is not necessary for
using the netpage system as a browsing system, such as when it is
used as an Internet interface. Each netpage pen is registered with
the netpage system and has a unique pen ID 61. FIG. 11 shows the
netpage pen class diagram, reflecting pen-related information
maintained by a registration server 11 on the netpage network.
[0331] When the nib is in contact with a netpage, the pen
determines its position and orientation relative to the page. The
nib is attached to a force sensor, and the force on the nib is
interpreted relative to a threshold to indicate whether the pen is
"up" or "down". This allows an interactive element on the page to
be `clicked` by pressing with the pen nib, in order to request,
say, information from a network. Furthermore, the force may be
captured as a continuous value to allow, say, the full dynamics of
a signature to be verified.
[0332] The pen determines the position and orientation of its nib
on the netpage by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area 193 of
the page in the vicinity of the nib. It decodes the nearest tag and
computes the position of the nib relative to the tag from the
observed perspective distortion on the imaged tag and the known
geometry of the pen optics. Although the position resolution of the
tag may be low, because the tag density on the page is inversely
proportional to the tag size, the adjusted position resolution is
quite high, exceeding the minimum resolution required for accurate
handwriting recognition.
[0333] Pen actions relative to a netpage are captured as a series
of strokes. A stroke consists of a sequence of time-stamped pen
positions on the page, initiated by a pen-down event and completed
by the subsequent pen-up event. A stroke is also tagged with the
page ID 50 of the netpage whenever the page ID changes, which,
under normal circumstances, is at the commencement of the
stroke.
[0334] Each netpage pen has a current selection 826 associated with
it, allowing the user to perform copy and paste operations etc. The
selection is timestamped to allow the system to discard it after a
defined time period. The current selection describes a region of a
page instance.
[0335] It consists of the most recent digital ink stroke captured
through the pen relative to the background area of the page. It is
interpreted in an application-specific manner once it is submitted
to an application via a selection hyperlink activation.
[0336] Each pen has a current nib 824. This is the nib last
notified by the pen to the system. In the case of the default
netpage pen described above, either the marking black ink nib or
the non-marking stylus nib is current. Each pen also has a current
nib style 825. This is the nib style last associated with the pen
by an application, e.g. in response to the user selecting a color
from a palette. The default nib style is the nib style associated
with the current nib. Strokes captured through a pen are tagged
with the current nib style. When the strokes are subsequently
reproduced, they are reproduced in the nib style with which they
are tagged.
[0337] The pen 101 may have one or more buttons 209. As described
in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/672,950 filed on Feb. 8, 2007 (the
contents of which is herein incorporated by reference), the
button(s) may be used to determine a mode or behavior of the pen,
which, in turn, determines how a stroke or, more generally,
interaction data is interpreted by the page server 10. Whenever the
pen is within range of a relay device 601 with which it can
communicate, the pen slowly flashes its "online" LED. When the pen
fails to decode a stroke relative to the page, it momentarily
activates its "error" LED. When the pen succeeds in decoding a
stroke relative to the page, it momentarily activates its "ok"
LED.
[0338] A sequence of captured strokes is referred to as digital
ink. Digital ink forms the basis for the digital exchange of
drawings and handwriting, for online recognition of handwriting,
and for online verification of signatures.
[0339] The pen is typically wireless and transmits digital ink to
the relay device 601 via a short-range radio link. The transmitted
digital ink is encrypted for privacy and security and packetized
for efficient transmission, but is always flushed on a pen-up event
to ensure timely handling in the printer.
[0340] When the pen is out-of-range of a relay device 601 it
buffers digital ink in internal memory, which has a capacity of
over ten minutes of continuous handwriting. When the pen is once
again within range of a relay device, it transfers any buffered
digital ink.
[0341] A pen can be registered with any number of relay devices,
but because all state data resides in netpages both on paper and on
the network, it is largely immaterial which relay device a pen is
communicating with at any particular time.
[0342] One embodiment of the pen is described in greater detail in
Section 7 below, with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10.
6 Netpage Interaction
[0343] The netpage relay device 601 receives data relating to a
stroke from the pen 101 when the pen is used to interact with a
netpage 1. The coded data 3 of the tags 4 is read by the pen when
it is used to execute a movement, such as a stroke. The data allows
the identity of the particular page to be determined and an
indication of the positioning of the pen relative to the page to be
obtained. Interaction data, typically comprising the page ID 50 and
at least one position of the pen, is transmitted to the relay
device 601, where it resolves, via the DNS, the page ID 50 of the
stroke into the network address of the netpage page server 10 which
maintains the corresponding page instance 830. It then transmits
the stroke to the page server. If the page was recently identified
in an earlier stroke, then the relay device may already have the
address of the relevant page server in its cache. Each netpage
consists of a compact page layout maintained persistently by a
netpage page server (see below). The page layout refers to objects
such as images, fonts and pieces of text, typically stored
elsewhere on the netpage network.
[0344] When the page server receives the stroke from the pen, it
retrieves the page description to which the stroke applies, and
determines which element of the page description the stroke
intersects. It is then able to interpret the stroke in the context
of the type of the relevant element.
[0345] A "click" is a stroke where the distance and time between
the pen down position and the subsequent pen up position are both
less than some small maximum. An object which is activated by a
click typically requires a click to be activated, and accordingly,
a longer stroke is ignored. The failure of a pen action, such as a
"sloppy" click, to register may be indicated by the lack of
response from the pen's "ok" LED.
[0346] Hyperlinks and form fields are two kinds of input elements,
which may be contained in a netpage page description. Input through
a form field can also trigger the activation of an associated
hyperlink. These types of input elements are described in further
detail in the above-identified patents and patent applications, the
contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference.
7 Detailed Netpage Pen Description
7.1 Pen Mechanics
[0347] Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the pen, generally designated by
reference numeral 101, includes a housing 102 in the form of a
plastics moulding having walls 103 defining an interior space 104
for mounting the pen components. Mode selector buttons 209 are
provided on the housing 102. The pen top 105 is in operation
rotatably mounted at one end 106 of the housing 102. A
semi-transparent cover 107 is secured to the opposite end 108 of
the housing 102. The cover 107 is also of moulded plastics, and is
formed from semi-transparent material in order to enable the user
to view the status of the LED mounted within the housing 102. The
cover 107 includes a main part 109 which substantially surrounds
the end 108 of the housing 102 and a projecting portion 110 which
projects back from the main part 109 and fits within a
corresponding slot 111 formed in the walls 103 of the housing 102.
A radio antenna 112 is mounted behind the projecting portion 110,
within the housing 102. Screw threads 113 surrounding an aperture
113A on the cover 107 are arranged to receive a metal end piece
114, including corresponding screw threads 115. The metal end piece
114 is removable to enable ink cartridge replacement.
[0348] Also mounted within the cover 107 is a tri-color status LED
116 on a flex PCB 117.
[0349] The antenna 112 is also mounted on the flex PCB 117. The
status LED 116 is mounted at the top of the pen 101 for good
all-around visibility.
[0350] The pen can operate both as a normal marking ink pen and as
a non-marking stylus. An ink pen cartridge 118 with nib 119 and a
stylus 120 with stylus nib 121 are mounted side by side within the
housing 102. Either the ink cartridge nib 119 or the stylus nib 121
can be brought forward through open end 122 of the metal end piece
114, by rotation of the pen top 105.
[0351] Respective slider blocks 123 and 124 are mounted to the ink
cartridge 118 and stylus 120, respectively. A rotatable cam barrel
125 is secured to the pen top 105 in operation and arranged to
rotate therewith. The cam barrel 125 includes a cam 126 in the form
of a slot within the walls 181 of the cam barrel. Cam followers 127
and 128 projecting from slider blocks 123 and 124 fit within the
cam slot 126. On rotation of the cam barrel 125, the slider blocks
123 or 124 move relative to each other to project either the pen
nib 119 or stylus nib 121 out through the hole 122 in the metal end
piece 114. The pen 101 has three states of operation. By turning
the top 105 through 90.degree. steps, the three states are:
[0352] Stylus 120 nib 121 out;
[0353] Ink cartridge 118 nib 119 out; and
[0354] Neither ink cartridge 118 nib 119 out nor stylus 120 nib 121
out.
[0355] A second flex PCB 129, is mounted on an electronics chassis
130 which sits within the housing 102. The second flex PCB 129
mounts an infrared LED 131 for providing infrared radiation for
projection onto the surface. An image sensor 132 is provided
mounted on the second flex PCB 129 for receiving reflected
radiation from the surface. The second flex PCB 129 also mounts a
radio frequency chip 133, which includes an RF transmitter and RF
receiver, and a controller chip 134 for controlling operation of
the pen 101. An optics block 135 (formed from moulded clear
plastics) sits within the cover 107 and projects an infrared beam
onto the surface and receives images onto the image sensor 132.
Power supply wires 136 connect the components on the second flex
PCB 129 to battery contacts 137 which are mounted within the cam
barrel 125. A terminal 138 connects to the battery contacts 137 and
the cam barrel 125. A three volt rechargeable battery 139 sits
within the cam barrel 125 in contact with the battery contacts. An
induction charging coil 140 is mounted about the second flex PCB
129 to enable recharging of the battery 139 via induction. The
second flex PCB 129 also mounts an infrared LED 143 and infrared
photodiode 144 for detecting displacement in the cam barrel 125
when either the stylus 120 or the ink cartridge 118 is used for
writing, in order to enable a determination of the force being
applied to the surface by the pen nib 119 or stylus nib 121. The IR
photodiode 144 detects light from the IR LED 143 via reflectors
(not shown) mounted on the slider blocks 123 and 124.
[0356] Rubber grip pads 141 and 142 are provided towards the end
108 of the housing 102 to assist gripping the pen 101, and top 105
also includes a clip 142 for clipping the pen 101 to a pocket.
7.2 Pen Controller
[0357] The pen 101 is arranged to determine the position of its nib
(stylus nib 121 or ink cartridge nib 119) by imaging, in the
infrared spectrum, an area of the surface in the vicinity of the
nib. It records the location data from the nearest location tag,
and is arranged to calculate the distance of the nib 121 or 119
from the location tab utilising optics 135 and controller chip
134.
[0358] The controller chip 134 calculates the orientation (yaw) of
the pen using an orientation indicator in the imaged tag, and the
nib-to-tag distance from the perspective distortion observed on the
imaged tag.
[0359] Utilising the RF chip 133 and antenna 112 the pen 101 can
transmit the digital ink data (which is encrypted for security and
packaged for efficient transmission) to the computing system.
[0360] When the pen is in range of a relay device 601, the digital
ink data is transmitted as it is formed. When the pen 101 moves out
of range, digital ink data is buffered within the pen 101 (the pen
101 circuitry includes a buffer arranged to store digital ink data
for approximately 12 minutes of the pen motion on the surface) and
can be transmitted later.
[0361] In Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,966, the contents of
which is incorporated herein by reference, a pen 101 having an
interchangeable ink cartridge nib and stylus nib was described.
[0362] Accordingly, and referring to FIG. 27, when the pen 101
connects to the computing system, the controller 134 notifies the
system of the pen ID, nib ID 175, current absolute time 176, and
the last absolute time it obtained from the system prior to going
offline. The pen ID allows the computing system to identify the pen
when there is more than one pen being operated with the computing
system.
[0363] The nib ID allows the computing system to identify which nib
(stylus nib 121 or ink cartridge nib 119) is presently being used.
The computing system can vary its operation depending upon which
nib is being used. For example, if the ink cartridge nib 119 is
being used the computing system may defer producing feedback output
because immediate feedback is provided by the ink markings made on
the surface. Where the stylus nib 121 is being used, the computing
system may produce immediate feedback output.
[0364] Since a user may change the nib 119, 121 between one stroke
and the next, the pen 101 optionally records a nib ID for a stroke
175. This becomes the nib ID implicitly associated with later
strokes.
[0365] Cartridges having particular nib characteristics may be
interchangeable in the pen. The pen controller 134 may interrogate
a cartridge to obtain the nib ID 175 of the cartridge. The nib ID
175 may be stored in a ROM or a barcode on the cartridge. The
controller 134 notifies the system of the nib ID whenever it
changes. The system is thereby able to determine the
characteristics of the nib used to produce a stroke 175, and is
thereby subsequently able to reproduce the characteristics of the
stroke itself.
[0366] The controller chip 134 is mounted on the second flex PCB
129 in the pen 101. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating in more
detail the architecture of the controller chip 134. FIG. 10 also
shows representations of the RF chip 133, the image sensor 132, the
tri-color status LED 116, the IR illumination LED 131, the IR force
sensor LED 143, and the force sensor photodiode 144.
[0367] The pen controller chip 134 includes a controlling processor
145. Bus 146 enables the exchange of data between components of the
controller chip 134. Flash memory 147 and a 512 KB DRAM 148 are
also included. An analog-to-digital converter 149 is arranged to
convert the analog signal from the force sensor photodiode 144 to a
digital signal.
[0368] An image sensor interface 152 interfaces with the image
sensor 132. A transceiver controller 153 and base band circuit 154
are also included to interface with the RF chip 133 which includes
an RF circuit 155 and RF resonators and inductors 156 connected to
the antenna 112.
[0369] The controlling processor 145 captures and decodes location
data from tags from the surface via the image sensor 132, monitors
the force sensor photodiode 144, controls the LEDs 116, 131 and
143, and handles short-range radio communication via the radio
transceiver 153. It is a medium-performance (.about.40 MHz)
general-purpose RISC processor.
[0370] The processor 145, digital transceiver components
(transceiver controller 153 and baseband circuit 154), image sensor
interface 152, flash memory 147 and 512 KB DRAM 148 are integrated
in a single controller ASIC. Analog RF components (RF circuit 155
and RF resonators and inductors 156) are provided in the separate
RF chip.
[0371] The image sensor is a 215.times.215 pixel CCD (such a sensor
is produced by Matsushita Electronic Corporation, and is described
in a paper by Itakura, K T Nobusada, N Okusenya, R Nagayoshi, and M
Ozaki, "A 1 mm 50k-Pixel IT CCD Image Sensor for Miniature Camera
System", IEEE Transactions on Electronic Devices, Volt 47, number
1, January 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference) with an
IR filter.
[0372] The controller ASIC 134 enters a quiescent state after a
period of inactivity when the pen 101 is not in contact with a
surface. It incorporates a dedicated circuit 150 which monitors the
force sensor photodiode 144 and wakes up the controller 134 via the
power manager 151 on a pen-down event.
[0373] The radio transceiver communicates in the unlicensed 900 MHz
band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the
unlicensed 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band,
and uses frequency hopping and collision detection to provide
interference-free communication.
[0374] In an alternative embodiment, the pen incorporates an
Infrared Data Association (IrDA) interface for short-range
communication with a base station or netpage printer.
7.3 Alternative Motion Sensor
[0375] In a further embodiment, the pen 101 includes a pair of
orthogonal accelerometers mounted in the normal plane of the pen
101 axis. The accelerometers 190 are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 in
ghost outline.
[0376] The provision of the accelerometers enables this embodiment
of the pen 101 to sense motion without reference to surface
location tags. Each location tag ID can then identify an object of
interest rather than a position on the surface. For example, if the
object is a user interface input element (e.g. a command button),
then the tag ID of each location tag within the area of the input
element can directly identify the input element.
[0377] The acceleration measured by the accelerometers in each of
the x and y directions is integrated with respect to time to
produce an instantaneous velocity and position.
[0378] Since the starting position of the stroke may not be known,
only relative positions within a stroke are calculated. Although
position integration accumulates errors in the sensed acceleration,
accelerometers typically have high resolution, and the time
duration of a stroke, over which errors accumulate, is short.
[0379] It will be appreciated that a number of alternative (or
additional) motion sensors may be employed in a Netpage pen 101.
These typically either measure absolute displacement or relative
displacement. For example, an optical mouse that measures
displacement relative to an external grid (see U.S. Pat. No.
4,390,873 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,772) measures absolute
displacement, whereas a mechanical mouse that measures displacement
via the movement of a wheel or ball in contact with the surface
(see U.S. Pat. No. 3,541,541 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,652) measures
relative displacement because measurement errors accumulate. An
optical mouse that measures displacement relative to surface
texture (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,218, U.S. Pat. No. 6,281,882, U.S.
Pat. No. 6,297,513 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,384), measures relative
displacement for the same reason. Motion sensors based on point
interferometry (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,482) or acceleration (see
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,051) also measure relative displacement. The
contents of all US patents identified in the preceding paragraph
relating to motion sensors are herein incorporated by
reference.
7.4 GUI Control
[0380] As discussed in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/672,950 filed
on Feb. 8, 2007 (the contents of which is herein incorporated by
reference), a Netpage pen 101 can be used to generate cursor
control commands (i.e. typically mouse events) to allow seamless
transitions between paper interactions and on-screen
interactions.
[0381] A computer system associated with the display device may
receive cursor control data (in the form of relative motion data)
directly from the pen 101, with the pen performing the necessary
processing to generate the cursor control data from the interaction
data. Alternatively, the computer system may receive interaction
data as usual from the pen 101, and then generate cursor control
commands for an associated display device. Alternatively, the
computer system may be a remote server which receives interaction
data from the Netpage pen 101 and transmits cursor control commands
to a display device near the user (e.g. mobile phone). Any of these
system architectures may support cursor control, although
generation of cursor control commands in the pen is generally
preferred.
[0382] As discussed in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/672,950, a
cursor control behaviour can be selected in various ways, including
via a momentary or persistent mode switch. Alternatively, cursor
control behaviour may also be automatically selected in the absence
of a Netpage tag pattern, if the Netpage pen 101 incorporates a
motion sensor that functions in the absence of a tag pattern.
[0383] When positions generated by a Netpage pen 101 are
intrinsically absolute, such as when generated at least partially
with reference to a Netpage tag pattern, then such positions can be
trivially converted into absolute cursor control commands. The
extent of the physical surface with which the sensing device is
interacting is ideally mapped to the extent of a display device for
the purposes of translating sensing device positions into cursor
control commands.
[0384] However, cursor control commands commonly specify changes in
position rather than absolute positions--i.e. they are relative
position changes. Absolute positions generated by a Netpage pen 101
by reading tags 4 may be trivially converted into relative cursor
control commands. The relative scale of physical displacements of
the Netpage reader and corresponding screen displacements can be
specified as a matter of user preference, as well as whether the
mapping is absolute or relative.
[0385] Although relative displacements of the pen 101 may be
readily calculated from absolute motion data, the implementation of
cursor control behaviour from absolute positions is problematic in
practice. In order for cursor control behaviour to appear `natural`
from a user's perspective, cursor movements on a screen should
always follow substantially the movement of the pen 101 i.e. a left
pen movement moves the on-screen cursor to the left, an up pen
movement moves the on-screen cursor upwards etc. If a surface is
orientated in the same way as a displayed page, then on-screen
cursor movements naturally reflect movement of the pen 101.
However, if the surface is upside down, then the on-screen cursor
movements will be confusing and unnatural for the user i.e. a left
pen movement would move the on-screen cursor to the right.
[0386] Since users are not accustomed to orienting their
traditional mousepads in a certain way, they equally would not
expect to orient their Netpage-tagged surface in a certain way in
order to invoke natural cursor-control behaviour. In other words,
it is desirable that the surface and pen 101 should invoke natural
mouse behaviour irrespective of how the surface is oriented.
[0387] This problem is solved by making used of the orientation
information contained in the Netpage tags 4. As explained above in
Sections 2.3 to 2.5, the yaw of the pen 101 relative to the surface
may be calculated by making use of this orientation information. If
orientation data as well as absolute motion data is received by a
computer system, then the computer system can determine movement of
the pen 101 relative to itself by taking into account the yaw of
the pen relative to the surface. Hence, movement of the pen, from a
user's perspective, is substantially translated into a
corresponding on-screen cursor movement. In this way, the pen 101
may be used to control naturally the movement of the cursor,
irrespective of the orientation of the surface.
[0388] Of course, when positions generated by a Netpage pen 101 are
intrinsically relative, such as when they are generated using a
relative motion sensing mechanism (e.g. accelerometers, mechanical
mouse, optical mouse etc), then they map naturally to relative
cursor control commands, again with a (potentially user-specified)
scale factor.
[0389] Cursor control is a subset of graphical user interface (GUI)
input and control in general, including functions such as: [0390]
scrolling [0391] web browser back/forward [0392] page up/down etc.
[0393] cut/copy/paste [0394] tab between GUI applications [0395]
launch specific GUI application (word processor, e-mail, web
browser, etc.) [0396] volume control (up/down/mute) [0397] log off,
sleep [0398] keyboard entry in general
[0399] Scrolling can be supported in the conventional way via a
scroll wheel on the Netpage pen 101. It can also be provided
implicitly as part of a cursor control behaviour, when motion
sensing at least partially occurs with reference to a Netpage tag
pattern, by reserving part of the extent of each printed Netpage
tag pattern as a scroll region. For example, the right-hand couple
of inches of each printed Netpage might be reserved for vertical
scrolling, and the bottom couple of inches might be reserved for
horizontal scrolling. This scroll region may be active when it is
determined that the pen 101 is operating in a cursor mode (for
example, by a mode switch on the pen).
[0400] Scrolling, like cursor control, can be absolute or relative,
and can be specified as a matter of user preference. As an
alternative to separate vertical and horizontal scrolling areas,
the dominant direction of the user's scroll gesture within a single
scroll region, relative to the orientation of the tag pattern, can
also be used to distinguish vertical from horizontal scrolling. In
order to allow diagonal scrolling, a threshold can be imposed on
the vertical and horizontal components of the user's gesture to
prevent inadvertent diagonal scrolling. As an alternative to
reserving a scroll region, one or two scroll mode selection
switches can be provided on the pen 101.
[0401] FIG. 15 shows cursor control and scrolling functions mapped
onto an arbitrary Netpage tagged page. The functions are only
operative when the Netpage pen's cursor control behaviour is
selected. The user readily learns from experience that if the pen's
cursor control behaviour is selected then cursor control and
scrolling actions may be performed via certain regions of any
Netpage, even though there may be no explicit visual indication of
this functionality in the visible content of the page. For example,
scroll regions along a righthand and bottom edge region may be
standard for any Netpage. These scroll regions would be active only
in the cursor mode.
[0402] FIG. 16 shows cursor control and scrolling functions
explicitly mapped onto a page with a matching visual layout. Hence,
the page shown in FIG. 16 is a dedicated cursor control page,
specifically tailored for GUI control, including cursor control and
scrolling actions. FIG. 17 shows cursor control, scrolling
functions and keyboard keys explicitly mapped onto a page with a
matching visual layout. In the explicitly mapped cases the
functions are self-selecting, and so can be operative in any pen
behaviour.
[0403] Any function or key input can also be generated via a
suitable Netpage tagged surface, either via tags specifically coded
to indicate corresponding functions or keys, or via a page
description that indicates corresponding functions or keys in the
usual way. The former has the advantage that the input can be
identified without consulting the page description 5. This allows
the user's relay device 601, which may commonly be the user's
display device, to capture such input without recourse to the
Netpage server 10. In the latter case any function or key input
generated by the server with reference to the page description can
be routed to the user's display device via the netpage architecture
(see FIG. 1 and US Patent Publication No. 2006/025175, the contents
of which is herein incorporated by reference). This has the
advantage that it supports a display device that is separate from
the relay device.
[0404] Printed controls can also be provided for selecting one-shot
or persistent modes, such as a scrolling mode. Printed controls may
be selected via a typical netpage interaction, whereby a user
selects an interactive control element on a page, and this
interaction is interpreted as a mode selection in the computer
system via the page description.
[0405] The present invention has been described with reference to a
preferred embodiment and number of specific alternative
embodiments. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in
the relevant fields that a number of other embodiments, differing
from those specifically described, will also fall within the spirit
and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it will be
understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the
specific embodiments described in the present specification,
including documents incorporated by cross-reference as appropriate.
The scope of the invention is only limited by the attached
claims.
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