HK1171828A - Audio/visual device graphical user interface - Google Patents

Abstract

A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates one or both of a touch sensor having a touch surface on which is defined a racetrack surface having a ring shape and a display element on which is displayed a racetrack menu also having a ring shape, and where the user interface incorporates both, the ring shapes of the racetrack surface and the racetrack menu are structured to generally correspond such that the position of a marker on the racetrack menu is caused to correspond to the position at which a digit of a user's hand touches the racetrack surface.

Description

Audio/visual device graphical user interface

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to user interfaces that incorporate visual displays and/or touch-sensitive controls.

Background

Enjoying the play of an audio/visual program (e.g., a piece of music, a recorded lecture, a recorded live show, a movie, a slide show, a family photo, an episode of a television program, etc.) is the task of selecting the audio/visual program desired to be played. Unfortunately, the selection of more and more sources of audio/visual programming and more mechanisms by which audio/visual programming can be stored and played have been complicated, once the playback of the audio/visual programming has been viewed or listened to enjoy its relatively simple actions.

For example, those who wish to "tune in" to an audio/visual program being broadcast must now select a channel on which to view the audio/visual program from up to 500 channels available through typical cable and/or satellite connections for television and/or radio broadcasts. In addition, it has become common to employ audio/visual devices that can be programmed to autonomously tune in and record audio/visual programs for later playback. Still further, it has now become common to obtain audio/visual programs from websites accessible over the internet by receiving them as streaming data while the audio/visual programs are playing, or downloading those audio/visual programs as storable digital files to an audio/visual device for later playing. Still further, some of these possible audio/visual program sources require a paid subscription, which requires a key fob and/or decryption key to gain access to at least some of the audio/visual programs.

Those who attempt to benefit from even the most modest subset of such a wide selection in order to play audio/visual programs often find it necessary to obtain multiple audio/visual devices (e.g., tuners, descramblers, disc media players, video recorders, web access devices, digital file players, televisions, visual displays without tuners, etc.). Each such audio/visual device typically has a unique user interface and is likely accompanied by a separate hand-held wireless remote control for its operation. By providing a so-called "universal remote control" that enables a plurality of audio/visual devices to be operated using a single remote controller, attempts have been made to cope with the plethora of remote controllers that often accompany a plurality of audio/visual devices. However, universal remote control distances are far from meeting many users' expectations of simplifying the coordination required to operate multiple audio/visual devices to perform the task of playing audio/visual programs.

Recently, efforts to further simplify the cooperative operation of a plurality of audio/visual devices have been made through cooperation among a plurality of audio/visual device suppliers by adopting standardized command codes and various methods of coupling a plurality of audio/visual devices so that those standardized command codes can be exchanged among the plurality of audio/visual devices. One example of such an effort is the CEC standardized command set created as part of the HDMI interface specification published by HDMI Licensing LLC of Sunnyvale, CA. However, even in conjunction with a universal remote control, these efforts are still far from making the playback of audio/visual programs really a simple task.

Disclosure of Invention

A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates one or both of a touch sensor having a touch surface on which a racetrack surface having a ring shape is defined, and a display unit on which a racetrack menu also having a ring shape is displayed, and when the user interface incorporates both, the ring shape of the racetrack surface and the ring shape of the racetrack menu are configured to generally correspond such that the location of a marker on the ring menu is caused to correspond to the location at which a finger of a user touches the racetrack surface.

In one aspect, an apparatus, comprising: a display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a racetrack menu having a ring shape; a processing device; and a storage accessible to and storing a sequence of instructions by the processing device. When executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to: causing the racetrack menu to be visually displayed on the display element such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program can be visually displayed; causing a plurality of menu items to be visually displayed in a racetrack menu; causing a first marker to be visually displayed in a racetrack menu; receiving an indication of movement of the first marker of the first manually-operable control being operated; in response to an indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker, moving the first marker in relation to the racetrack menu and restricting movement of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu; after a first manually-operable control operated to move a first marker about a runway, receiving an indication of the first manually-operable control operated to select a menu item of a plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker; and in response to an indication of the operated first manually-operable control selecting a menu item in the vicinity of the first marker, causing the menu item to be selected, wherein causing the menu item to be selected comprises taking action that causes the audio/visual program to be selected for play.

Embodiments may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The apparatus may further comprise a source interface operable to select a source from which to receive the audio/visual program, wherein the action taken to cause the audio/visual program to be selected for play is selected from a group of actions comprising: selecting a source interface to enable receiving audio/visual programming from a source through the source interface; transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to select an audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source; and transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to cause the source to provide the audio/visual program to the device as part of playing the audio/visual program. Communicating a command to a source through a source interface to select an audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source may include causing the source to operate a radio frequency tuner to receive the audio/visual program and/or causing the source to begin playing the audio/visual program from a storage medium accessible to the source.

The first manually-operable control may be a touch sensor having a touch-sensitive surface that is manually operable with a finger. Execution of the sequences of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause the racetrack menu to be visually displayed in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger to move in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed, and cause a command related to playing an audio/visual program to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program in response to an indication of the finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger ceasing to touch the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed. Execution of the sequences of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause the racetrack menu to be visually displayed in response to an indication that the digit touched the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication that the digit remained in contact with the touch-sensitive surface for at least a predetermined period of time when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed, and cause a command related to playing the audio/visual program to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program in response to an indication that the digit touched the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication that the digit stopped touching the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed. Execution of the sequences of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause a second marker to be visually displayed proximate to the first marker in response to an indication of a digit touching the touch-sensitive surface, and move the second marker to a position relative to the first marker in response to an indication of the digit moving in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface, such that the position of the second marker relative to the first marker indicates a position where the digit touched the touch-sensitive surface more accurately than a position of the first marker within the racetrack menu.

Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to move the first marker with respect to the racetrack menu in a manner that the first marker makes a "snap" movement between the vicinity of a first menu item of the plurality of menu items and the vicinity of a second menu item of the plurality of menu items, and may further cause the processing device to operate the sound driver to audibly output a sound in each instance in which the first marker makes a rapid movement between the vicinity of the first and second menu items. Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to change a size dimension of the first marker as it is caused to move the first marker about the racetrack menu between being proximate to a first menu item of the plurality of menu items and being proximate to a second menu item of the plurality of menu items. The first marker may be in the form of an arrow indicator pointing to a menu item of the plurality of menu items, a box surrounding a menu item of the plurality of menu items, or a change that causes an appearance of a menu item of the plurality of menu items to be different from an appearance of other menu items of the plurality of menu items. The racetrack menu may be a rectangular ring with four sides; and the sequence of instructions executed by the processing device may further cause the processing device to receive an indication that the first manually-operable control is being operated, and to cause a second marker to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu adjacent one of the four sides of the rectangular toroid of the racetrack menu to visually indicate which of the four sides the first marker is currently located within.

Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause the racetrack menu to be visually displayed on the display unit in response to receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control, and to cause the racetrack menu to cease being visually displayed on the display unit in response to a predetermined period of time having elapsed without receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control. Execution of the sequences of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to: causing both the first display area and the second display area to be displayed on the display unit in a manner that both the first and second display areas are surrounded by the racetrack menu; causing a first menu item associated with the visual portion of the audio/visual program being played in the first display area to be located in a first portion of the racetrack menu that is closer to the first display area than a second portion of the racetrack menu; and causing a second menu item associated with the visual portion of the audio/visual program being played in the second display area to be located in a second portion of the racetrack menu. The first display area may be positioned to cover a portion of the second display area. The first display region and the second display region may be positioned adjacent to each other in such a manner that the first and second display regions do not overlap each other.

In one aspect, a method comprises: visually displaying a racetrack menu having a ring shape on a display unit capable of visually displaying both the racetrack menu and a visual portion of the audio/visual program, such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program can be visually displayed; visually displaying a plurality of menu items in a racetrack menu; visually displaying a first marker in a racetrack menu; receiving an indication of movement of the first marker of the first manually-operable control being operated; in response to an indication of the operated first manually-operable control moving the first marker, moving the first marker with respect to the racetrack menu and limiting a movement limit of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu; after the first manually-operable control is operated to move the first marker about the runway, receiving an indication of the operated first manually-operable control to select a menu item of the plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker; and in response to an indication of the operated first manually-operable control selecting a menu item in the vicinity of the first marker, selecting the menu item, wherein selecting the menu item comprises taking an action that causes the audio/visual program to be selected for play.

Embodiments may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The method may further include, while the racetrack menu is not visually displayed, visually displaying the racetrack menu in response to receiving an indication of a digit touching the touch-sensitive surface of the first manually-operable control followed by an indication of the digit moving in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface; and transmitting a command to a source of the audio/visual program relating to playing the audio/visual program in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger ceasing to touch the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed. The method may further include, while the racetrack menu is not visually displayed, visually displaying the racetrack menu in response to receiving an indication that a digit touched the touch-sensitive surface of the first manually-operable control followed by the digit remaining in contact with the touch-sensitive surface for at least a predetermined period of time; and transmitting a command to a source of the audio/visual program relating to playing the audio/visual program in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger ceasing to touch the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed. The method may also visually display a racetrack menu on the display element in response to receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control; and ceasing to visually display the racetrack menu on the display element in response to a predetermined period of time having elapsed without receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control.

The action taken to cause the audio/visual program to be selected for play is selected from a group of actions that may include selecting a source interface to enable the audio/visual program to be received from a source of the audio/visual program through the source interface; transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to select an audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source; and transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to cause the source to provide the audio/visual program to the device as part of playing the audio/visual program. Communicating a command to a source through a source interface to select an audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source may include causing the source to operate a radio frequency tuner to receive the audio/visual program and/or causing the source to begin playing the audio/visual program from a storage medium accessible to the source.

The method may further comprise moving the first marker about the racetrack menu in such a manner that the first marker moves abruptly between near a first one of the plurality of menu items and near a second one of the plurality of menu items, and may further comprise operating the sound driver to audibly output a sound in each instance in which the first marker moves abruptly between near the first and second menu items. The racetrack menu may be a rectangular ring with four sides; and the method may further comprise receiving an indication that the first manually-operable control is being operated, and causing a second marker to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu adjacent one of the four sides of the rectangular annulus of the racetrack menu to visually indicate which of the four sides the first marker is currently located within.

The method may further include displaying both the first display area and the second display area on the display unit in a manner that both the first and second display areas are surrounded by the racetrack menu; displaying the first menu item in a first portion of the racetrack menu that is closer to the first display area than a second portion of the racetrack menu, where the first menu item is associated with a visual portion of the audio/visual program playing in the first display area; and displaying the second menu item in a second portion of the racetrack menu if the second menu item is associated with the visual portion of the audio/visual program playing in the second display region. The method may further include positioning the first display area to cover a portion of the second display area, or positioning the first display area and the second display area adjacent to each other in such a manner that the first and second display areas do not cover each other.

A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates a display unit on which is displayed a racetrack menu having a ring shape, wherein selection of a menu item located along the racetrack menu is responsive to display of a submenu located within a display area on the display unit surrounded by the racetrack menu, and wherein selection of a menu item of the submenu is in substantially the same manner as the menu item is located along the racetrack menu.

In one aspect, an apparatus includes a display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a racetrack menu having a ring shape; a processing device; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing the sequence of instructions. When executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to cause a racetrack menu to be visually displayed on the display element such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which a visual portion of an audio/visual program can be visually displayed; causing a first plurality of menu items to be visually displayed in a racetrack menu; causing a first marker to be visually displayed in a racetrack menu; in response to an indication of the operated manually-operable control to move the first marker, moving the first marker in relation to the runway menu and restricting movement of the first marker to remain within the runway menu; and in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, causing the menu item to be selected. Causing the menu item to be selected further includes causing the processing device to cause a sub-menu to be visually displayed within the first display area, causing a second plurality of menu items to be visually displayed in the sub-menu, and causing a first marker to be displayed within the sub-menu.

Embodiments may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The sub-menu is displayed within the first display area such that the sub-menu overlays the visual portion of the audio/visual program when the visual portion of the audio/visual program is displayed within the first display area on the display unit. The racetrack menu and the submenu may together surround a second display area that occupies a subset of the first display area, and wherein the visual portion of the audio/visual program is displayed within the second display area such that no portion of the racetrack menu or the submenu overlays the visual portion of the audio/visual program when the audio/visual program is displayed on the display element. The submenu may be a spiral (spiral) configuration having four sides corresponding to and positioned adjacent to the four sides of the ring shape of the racetrack menu, and having a fifth side corresponding to and positioned adjacent to one of the four sides of the submenu, such that the one of the four sides of the submenu is positioned between the fifth side and a portion of the racetrack menu. Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processor to cause the sub-menu to cease to be displayed and cause the first marker to be moved to a position within the racetrack menu in response to a predetermined period of time elapsing without receiving any indication of the manually-operable control being operated.

The sub-menu may be a ring shape having four sides corresponding to the four sides of the ring shape of the racetrack menu. The submenu may be positioned relative to the racetrack menu such that the rings of the submenu are positioned concentrically within the rings of the racetrack menu.

The manually-operable control may be a touch sensor having a touch-sensitive surface that is manually operable with a finger. The apparatus may further comprise a manually operable control. Execution of the sequences of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause a second marker to be visually displayed in proximity to the first marker when the first marker is located within one of the racetrack menu and the submenu, and in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface; and in response to the indication of the digit moving in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface, causing the second indicia to move to a position relative to the first indicia such that the position of the second indicia relative to the first indicia is more accurately indicative of the location at which the digit touched the touch-sensitive surface than the position of the first indicia.

Execution of the sequences of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to: in response to receiving an indication of movement of the manually-operable control that is operated to move the first marker, causing the first marker to move with respect to the submenu and to be restricted from moving within the submenu; and in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a second menu item of the second plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, selecting the second menu item. The processing device may change configuration settings that affect how the audio/visual program may be played in response to receiving an indication of a manually-operable control being operated to select the second menu item. Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause the first marker to move with respect to the submenu in a manner that the first marker moves abruptly between near one of the second plurality of menu items and near another of the second plurality of menu items. The processing device may also be caused to operate the sound driver to audibly output sound in each instance of sudden movement of the first marker between the vicinity of one and the other menu item.

Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause display of a second marker within at least the submenu and proximate to a first menu item of the racetrack menu to indicate a position within the submenu to which the first marker is to be moved within the submenu to enable the first marker to be moved back to the racetrack menu. The processing device may be further caused to cause the sub-menu to cease to be displayed and the first marker to be moved to a position within the racetrack menu in response to receiving an indication of a selection of the second marker by the operated manually-operable control.

In one aspect, a method includes visually displaying a racetrack menu having a ring shape on a display unit capable of visually displaying both the racetrack menu and a visual portion of an audio/visual program such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program can be visually displayed; visually displaying a first plurality of menu items in a racetrack menu; visually displaying a first marker in a racetrack menu; in response to receiving an indication of a manually-operable control associated with the racetrack menu being operated to move the first marker, moving the first marker with respect to the racetrack menu and restricting movement of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu; and in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, selecting the first menu item. Selecting the first menu item includes visually displaying a submenu within the first display area, visually displaying a second plurality of menu items in the submenu, and visually displaying a first marker within the submenu.

Embodiments may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The method may include displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program in a first display area and displaying a submenu such that the submenu overlays the first display area. The racetrack menu and the submenu may together surround a second display area occupying a subset of the first display area, the method comprising displaying a visual portion of the audio/visual program within the second display area such that no portion of the racetrack menu or submenu overlays the visual portion of the audio/visual program. The submenu may be in a spiral configuration having four sides corresponding to and positioned adjacent to the four sides of the ring shape of the racetrack menu, and having a fifth side corresponding to and positioned adjacent to one of the four sides of the submenu, such that the one of the four sides of the submenu is positioned between the fifth side and a portion of the racetrack menu. The method may further comprise ceasing to display the sub-menu and causing the first marker to move to a position within the racetrack menu in response to a predetermined period of time elapsing without receiving any indication of the manually-operable control being operated.

The sub-menu may be a ring shape having four sides corresponding to the four sides of the ring shape of the racetrack menu. Visually displaying the submenu in the first display area may include positioning the submenu relative to the racetrack menu such that the ring of submenus is positioned concentrically within the ring of the racetrack menu.

The method may further comprise: in response to receiving an indication of movement of the manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker, moving the first marker in relation to the sub-menu and restricting movement of the first marker from remaining within the sub-menu; and in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a second menu item of the second plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, selecting the second menu item. The method may further comprise changing configuration settings affecting how the audio/visual program may be played in response to receiving an indication of a selection of the second menu item by the operated manually-operable control. The method may further include moving the first marker about the submenu in a manner that the first marker abruptly moves between about one of the second plurality of menu items and about another of the second plurality of menu items.

Displaying the submenu within the first display area may further include displaying a second marker within at least the submenu and proximate to a first menu item of the racetrack menu to indicate a position within the submenu to which the first marker may be moved within the submenu to enable the first marker to be moved back to the racetrack menu. The method may further comprise, in response to receiving an indication of a selection of the second marker by the operated manually-operable control, ceasing to display the sub-menu and moving the first marker to a position within the racetrack menu.

A user interface for an audio/visual device enables a user to customise the selection of menu items displayable on a menu, possibly a racetrack menu provided by the user interface to enable the user to operate the audio/visual device, in which menu a plurality of menu items are visually displayed that can be selected for display, and a first manually-operable control (or a first set of manually-operable controls) is operable by the user to select a menu item from those plurality for display on the menu. The menu may be displayed in synchronization with a plurality of menu items so that the user can immediately see the result of his selection. The user may be enabled to select a menu item again within the plurality of menu items to cause the menu item to cease being displayed on the menu. A second manually-operable control may be provided to the user to enable the user to select another menu item already displayed on the menu to cause the menu item to cease being displayed.

In one aspect, an apparatus includes a display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a racetrack menu having a ring shape; a processing device; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing the sequence of instructions. When executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to: causing a first plurality of menu items to be visually displayed within a first portion of a display unit; causing a first indicia to be visually displayed on a first portion of a display unit; and in response to receiving an indication of the operated first manually-operable control selecting a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, causing the first menu item to become displayable on the racetrack menu.

Embodiments may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The method may further include causing the processing device to display the first menu item on the racetrack menu as one of a second plurality of menu items displayed on the racetrack menu when the sequence of instructions further causes the processing device to cause the racetrack menu to be displayed on the display element. The sequence of instructions may also cause the processing device to display the racetrack menu in a second portion of the display element adjacent to the first portion of the display element while simultaneously displaying the first plurality of menu items in the first portion. Additionally, the second portion may surround the first portion and display a first plurality of menu items within the first portion and a racetrack menu within the second portion to surround the first plurality of menu items displayed within the first portion.

The racetrack menu may have a geometric shape that includes a plurality of edges including a first edge and a second edge; the processing device may be caused to display a first plurality of menu items divided among a plurality of scrollable bars including menu items of a first column and a second column; the first column may correspond to the first edge and the second column may correspond to the second edge; a first menu item may be displayed within the first column; and in response to receiving an indication of a manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item, the sequence of instructions may further cause the processing device to cause the first menu item to become displayable within a first side of the racetrack menu.

The racetrack menu may have a geometry that includes a plurality of edges including a first edge, a second edge, and a third edge; the processing device may be caused to display a first plurality of menu items divided among a plurality of scrollable bars including menu items of a first column and a second column; the first column may correspond to the first edge; the second column may correspond to the second side and the third side; the first menu item may be displayed within the second column; and in response to receiving an indication of a selection of a first menu item by the operated manually-operable control, the sequence of instructions may further cause the processing device to make a selection such that the first menu item becomes displayable within the second edge in response to the number of menu items of the second plurality caused to be displayed on the second edge being less than the number of menu items of the second plurality caused to be displayed on the third edge, thereby balancing the number of menu items displayed on the second and third edges.

In another aspect, a method includes visually displaying a first plurality of menu items within a first portion of a display unit, the display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a user interface including a menu; visually displaying a first marker between the first plurality of menu items and located near one of the first plurality of menu items; visually displaying the menu within a second portion of the display unit in synchronization with visually displaying the first plurality of menu items, wherein the second portion is adjacent to the first portion; visually displaying a second plurality of menu items within the menu; visually displaying a second marker between the second plurality of menu items and located adjacent to one of the second plurality of menu items; and in response to receiving an indication of the operated first manually-operable control selecting a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, displaying the first menu item on the menu as part of the second plurality of menu items.

Embodiments may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following features. In response to again receiving an indication of a selection of the first plurality of menu items by the operated first manually-operable control to display the first menu item as one of the second plurality of menu items in the vicinity of the first marker, the first menu item may be removed from display on the menu as part of the second plurality of menu items.

In response to receiving an indication of an operated second manually-operable control selecting said second one of the second plurality of menu items that is in the vicinity of the second marker, the second menu item may be removed from display on the menu. It is also possible to display a second menu item within the first portion as one of the first plurality of menu items.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the claims.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a user interface.

FIG. 2 depicts a correlation between movement of a finger on a racetrack sensor of the user interface of FIG. 1 and movement of a marker on a racetrack menu of the user interface of FIG. 1.

Figures 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d collectively depict possible variations of the user interface of figure 1 incorporating indicia of different forms and combinations.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a possible architecture of the user interface of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 1 that combines more user interface features into a single device.

Fig. 6 depicts the possibility of switching between a racetrack menu displaying and not displaying the user interface of fig. 1.

Fig. 7a and 7b together depict additional possible details of the user interface of fig. 1.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 5 additionally incorporating possible details of FIGS. 7a and 7 b.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a controller in the architecture of fig. 4.

Fig. 10a and 10b together depict a possible variation of the touch sensor employed in the user interface of fig. 1.

11a and 11b together depict possible variations of the user interface of FIG. 1 incorporating more than one display area.

FIG. 12 depicts another embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 1 in which the racetrack menu and the display area surrounded by the racetrack menu do not occupy substantially all of the display elements.

Fig. 13a and 13b together depict additional possible details of the user interface of fig. 1.

FIG. 14 depicts a variation of the additional user interface details of FIGS. 13 a-b.

Fig. 15a, 15b and 15c collectively depict additional possible details of the user interface of fig. 1.

Detailed Description

The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein is intended to be applicable to a wide range of audio/visual devices, i.e., devices configured for use by a user to play audio/visual programs. It should be noted that while various specific embodiments of audio/visual devices (e.g., televisions, set-top boxes, and handheld remote controls) have been presented with a certain degree of detail, the specific embodiments so presented are intended to facilitate understanding through the use of examples and should not be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure or the scope of coverage of the claims.

What is disclosed and claimed herein is intended to be applicable to audio/visual devices that employ tuners and/or network interfaces to receive audio/visual programs. What is disclosed and claimed herein is intended to be applicable to audio/visual devices that are configured to cooperate with other devices to play audio/visual programs and/or to cause audio/visual programs to be played. What is disclosed and claimed herein is intended to be applicable to audio/visual devices that are wirelessly connected to other devices, connected to other devices by electrically and/or optically conductive cables, or not connected to any other device at all. What is disclosed and claimed herein is intended to be applicable to audio/visual devices having a physical configuration that is structured to be either portable or not. Other configurations of audio/visual devices to which the subject matter disclosed and claimed herein may be applied will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 depicts a user interface 1000 that enables hand-eye coordination of a user to be used to more intuitively operate at least one audio/visual device to select and play audio/visual programs. The user interface 1000 incorporates a displayed "racetrack" menu 150 and a corresponding "racetrack" surface 250. As depicted, the user interface 1000 is implemented by a set of interoperable devices including at least the audio/visual device 100 and the handheld remote controller 200. However, as will also be described in greater detail, the user interface 1000 may be implemented substantially entirely by a single audio/visual device, such as the audio/visual device 100.

The racetrack menu 150 is visually displayed on a display unit 120 disposed on the housing 110 of the audio/visual device 100, and as depicted, the audio/visual device 100 is a flat panel display device, such as a television, that employs the display unit 120 in the form of a flat panel, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) unit or a plasma display unit. In addition, the audio/visual device 100 may also incorporate a sound driver 130 to audibly output sound. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, the racetrack menu 150 may be displayed by any of a number of types, configurations, and sizes of audio/visual devices, whether portable or stationary, including but not limited to projectors or handheld devices.

Racetrack surface 250 is defined on touch-sensitive surface 225 of touch sensor 220 disposed on housing 210 of handheld remote control 200, and as depicted, touch-sensitive surface 225 has a rectangular ring shape that physically defines the shape and location of racetrack surface 250 such that racetrack surface 250 encompasses substantially all of the touch-sensitive surface of touch sensor 220. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, the touch sensor 220 may be incorporated into any of a variety of devices, whether portable or stationary, including but not limited to wall mounted control panels or keyboards. Additionally, it is also contemplated that the touch sensor 220 may have a variation of the touch-sensitive surface 225 that is not annular in shape (see fig. 2) with a racetrack surface 250 defined on the variation of the touch-sensitive surface 225 in another manner such that the racetrack surface 250 contains only a subset of the variation of the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220. Additionally, the touch sensor 220 may be based on any of a variety of technologies.

As depicted, the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 have a ring shape, which is generally a rectangular ring shape with a corresponding set of four sides. More specifically, the four edges 150a, 150b, 150c, and 150d of the racetrack menu 150 are arranged to correspond to the four edges 250a, 250b, 250c, and 250d of the racetrack surface 250. The four-sided attributes of both the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 are meant to be compatible with the straight-line attributes of the vast majority of display elements currently found in audio/visual devices, as well as the straight-line attributes of the visual portion of the vast majority of existing audio/visual programs having a visual portion. It is important to note, however, that while the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 are depicted and discussed herein as having rectangular rings, other embodiments are possible in which the rings employed by the racetrack surface 250 are circular, elliptical, hexagonal, or other geometric variations of rings. In addition, where the runway menu 150 and/or runway surface 250 have a loop shape other than a rectangular loop shape, one or both of the display unit 120 and touch sensor 220 may have a shape other than the rectangular shape described herein.

As will be explained in greater detail, the four sides 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 surround or cover the edges of a display area 950 in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program selected via the user interface 1000 can be played. It is this positioning of the racetrack menu 150 about the periphery of the display unit 120 and the display area 950 (whether around or covering the periphery of the display area 950) that provides the motive force of both the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 having a ring shape that is generally a rectangular ring shape rather than a ring shape of some other geometric shape. In the event that the selected audio/visual program does not have a visual portion (e.g., the audio/visual program is a recording having only an audio portion), display area 950 may remain blank (e.g., only a black or blue background color is displayed) or display status information related to the playing of the selected audio/visual program as it is being played, possibly accompanying audible output of the audio portion by sound driver 130. As depicted, the four sides 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 are displayed by the display unit 120 at the edges of the display unit 120. However, it is also contemplated that the four edges 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 may be positioned with respect to the "window" edges of a graphical user interface of the type commonly employed in the operation of typical computer systems on which the audio/visual device 100 may be a computer system on which audio/visual programs are selected and played via the user interface 1000.

As shown in FIG. 2, at various locations along one or more of the four edges 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 are menu items 155 that can be selected by a user of the user interface 1000. Menu items 155 may include alphanumeric characters (such as those depicted as located along edge 150 a) that may be selected to specify the channel or website from which the audio/visual program is selected and/or received, symbols (such as those depicted as located along edge 150 b) representing commands to control the operation of an audio/visual device capable of playing the audio/visual program (e.g., "play" and "stop" commands for a video recorder, a disc media player, a solid state digital file player, or the like), and input indicators (such as those depicted as located along edge 150 c) for the audio/visual device that may be selected and through which the audio/visual program may be selected and/or received. While the various menu items 155 positioned along the racetrack menu 150 are contemplated for any of a wide variety of purposes, it is envisioned that many of the functionalities of the menu items 155 will be related to enabling a user to select an audio/visual program for playback, and/or to actually play the audio/visual program.

To operate the user interface 1000, a user places a fingertip of one of his hands (i.e., a tip of a thumb or finger) on a portion of the racetrack surface 250 defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 and displays indicia 160 on a portion of the racetrack menu 150 having a location on the racetrack menu 150 corresponding to a location 260 where their fingertip is in contact with the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 on the racetrack surface 250. Fig. 2 also depicts how the marker 160 moves with respect to the racetrack menu 150 and is restricted from moving with respect thereto as the user moves the finger with respect to the racetrack surface 250, so as to maintain correspondence between its position on the racetrack menu 150 and the position 260 of the finger on the racetrack surface 250. In some embodiments, the marker 160 may move about the racetrack menu 150 in a manner in which the marker 160 "pops" from approximately the center of one menu item 155 to an adjacent menu item 155 as the marker 160 moves about a portion of the racetrack menu 150 having the adjacent menu items 155. Additionally, such "snapping" of the marker 160 between adjacent menu items 155 may be accompanied by simultaneous audible output of some form of sound (e.g., a "click" or "beep" sound with each "snapping" of the marker 160) to provide feedback to the user that the marker 160 has moved from one such menu item 155 to another.

When the marker 160 is located on a menu item 155 that the user wishes to select, the user selects that menu item 155 by pressing any of his or her fingers that have come into contact with the runway surface 250 with more pressure than would be used if the finger was simply brought into contact with the runway surface 250. In some embodiments, the touch sensors 220 themselves are able to distinguish between different degrees of pressure with which a finger is in contact with the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 on which the racetrack surface 250 is defined, in order to distinguish between situations in which a user presses harder with a finger to select one of the menu items 155. In other embodiments, the touch sensor 220 can function in a manner that is not different from a mechanically depressible button, wherein additional pressure applied by the user through a finger causes the touch sensor 220 to be depressed inward of the housing 210 as part of selecting a menu item. This may be accomplished by using the touch sensor 220 to cover one or more buttons disposed within the housing 210 such that when the touch sensor 220 itself is pressed toward the housing 210, such buttons are pressed by the touch sensor 220. In the event that the touch sensor 220 can be pressed inward into the housing 210, such inward movement can be accompanied by a "click" sound that can be heard by the user and/or a tactile "snap" sensation that can be felt by the user through his finger to give the user some positive feedback that they have successfully selected one of the menu items 155. Whether or not the touch sensor 220 can be pressed inward toward the housing 210, a "click" or other sound accompanying the user's selection of one of the menu items 155 using increasing pressure on the racetrack surface 250 can be audibly output by an audio driver (not shown) coupled to the remote control 220 and/or by the audio driver 130 of the audio/visual device 100.

Fig. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d depict other variations of markers and marker combinations. As will be further appreciated, different forms of markings and combinations of multiple markings may be used to improve the rapidity with which the eyes of a user of the user interface 1000 are drawn to a particular location on the racetrack menu 150 and to assist in hand-eye coordination of the user.

While the marker 160 is depicted in fig. 2 as being in the form of a graphical element that is sized as a box surrounding one menu item 155 when positioned adjacent to one or more menu items 155, fig. 3a depicts another variation of the marker 160 having the form of a triangular indicator. Other possible graphical representations of the indicia 160 will occur to those skilled in the art, such as the form of the indicia 160 having other geometric shapes (e.g., a point, a circle, an arrow, etc.), or other manners of being located proximate a given one of the menu items 155 (e.g., covering, surrounding, pointing to, touching, etc. one of the menu items 155). Still further, rather than the marker 160 being a separate and distinct graphical element from any of the menu items 155, the marker 160 may additionally be a modified form of a given one of the menu items 155, such as a color change of the menu item, a magnification of the menu item compared to the other, or some form of recurring animation or movement applied to the menu item. In other words, the position of the marker 160 (and by extension, the position 260 of the fingertip on the racetrack surface 250) may be indicated by one menu item 155 changing color, changing font, becoming larger, becoming brighter, or being visually altered from other menu items 155 in any of a variety of ways to attract the user's eyes.

FIG. 3a also depicts an optional additional marker 165 that follows the position of the marker 160 and provides a visual "highlight" of which of the four edges 150a-d of the marker 160 currently within as a visual aid to enable the user's eyes to be directed to which of the four edges 150a-d more quickly when viewing the racetrack menu 150. Although not specifically depicted, in other embodiments, the additional indicia 165 may be implemented as a highlight, color change, background color change, font change, magnification, or other visual change to all menu items 155 located in one of the four sides 150 a-d.

Fig. 3b depicts the manner in which the marker 160 may be dynamically resized as it moves about the racetrack menu 150, particularly in embodiments where the marker 160 is in the form of a different size that somehow overlaps or surrounds one menu item 155 at a time to account for different menu items 155. More specifically, and as depicted in fig. 3b, the number "3" is visually smaller in visual size (i.e., occupies less space in the runway menu 150) than the number "III" that also appears on the same runway menu 150. Thus, when the marker 160 is depicted in the form (i.e., in the form of the "box" of the marker 160, which has been discussed at length) on one or the other of the two particular menu items, the size of the marker 160 is adjusted to be larger or smaller as necessary to account for the different sizes of the two particular menu items 155.

Fig. 3c also depicts an optional additional marker 162 that follows the position of the marker 160 and provides a more accurate visual indication of the user's fingertip position 260 along the corresponding portion of the runway surface 250 than the marker 160. As depicted, the marker 162 takes the form of what may be referred to as a "dash" where it is located along one edge of the frame shape of the marker 160. It should be noted, however, that the indicia 162 may take any of a variety of forms (e.g., dots, circles, arrows, etc.). In embodiments where the marker 160 moves in the manner previously described, where the marker 160 "pops" between adjacent menu items 155 such that the marker 160 itself does not provide an accurate indication of the user's fingertip position 260, the provision of the marker 162 may be considered desirable. More specifically, fig. 3c depicts a succession of partial views of the racetrack menu 150 with menu items 155 in the form of numbers "1" through "5" on it. As can be seen during the succession depicted herein, the marker 162 provides a more accurate indication that the position 260 of the user's fingertip has moved from left to right along a portion of the racetrack surface 250 than the marker 160, which marker 160 remains on a menu item 155 having the form of the number "2" on that portion of the racetrack menu 150. This higher accuracy indication of the user's finger position 260 may help the user improve their hand-eye coordination when operating the user interface 1000. This indication of a more accurate position 260 may also provide the user with some reassurance as to the response of the user interface 1000 to its action (or more specifically, whatever processing device incorporated into the user interface 1000 responds to its action) by seeing that the exact position 260 of its fingertip is successfully detected.

Fig. 3d depicts yet another alternative variation of the marker 160 in a variation of the user interface 1000, in which the racetrack menu 150 is divided into a plurality of sections, with each such section serving as a background for one menu item 155. As depicted, the marker 160 is implemented as a change in color and/or brightness of one of those sections of the racetrack menu 150, as well as an enlargement of a graphical element representing one of the menu items (specifically, the number "3") located within that section. As also so depicted, the marker 160 may be referred to as a box having a variation of the previously depicted box, but is a box made visible by having a color and/or brightness different from the rest of the racetrack menu 150, rather than a box made visible by bolding or outlining. Fig. 3d also depicts that this alternative variation of the marker 160 is used in conjunction with the additional marker 162 described earlier to provide a more accurate indication of the user's fingertip position 260 along a portion of the runway surface 250.

Fig. 3d also depicts how this variation of the marker 160 is resized to accommodate different menu items 155 of different sizes, although this resizing now corresponds to different sizes of the different partitions into which the racetrack menu 150 is partitioned. In some variations, as depicted in fig. 3d, each partition may be individually sized to accommodate the visual size and shape of its corresponding one of menu items 155. Thus, since the number "3" of one menu item 155 is smaller than the number "III" of another menu item 155 by at least one dimension (even though the number "3" is enlarged in font size), the section of the racetrack menu 150 in which the number "3" is located is smaller than the section in which the number "III" is located. However, in other variations, the partitions filling at least one of the four sides 150a-d may all be sized based on the number of menu items 155 located in that one of the four sides, thereby dividing that one of the four sides 150a-d into equally sized partitions. In the event that menu items 155 along one of the four edges 150a-d may change in response to an input selection or for other reasons, the size of the middle zone in that one of the four edges 150a-d may change in response to a change in the number of menu items 155 located in that one of the four edges 150 a-d. Thus, for example, a decrease in the number of menu items 155 in one of the four sides 150a-d causes each of its partitions to become larger by at least one dimension, and an increase in the number of menu items 155 in that one of the four sides 150a-d causes each of its partitions to become smaller.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a possible architecture of a user interface 1000 through which the controller 500 receives input by a user using at least a racetrack surface 250 defined on at least a portion of the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 to which the controller 500 is coupled, and at least the racetrack menu 150 is provided to the user as a visual output by at least the display unit 120 to which the controller 500 is also coupled. In various possible embodiments, the controller 500 may be incorporated directly into the audio/visual device 100 or into another audio/visual device 900 coupled to the audio/visual device 100 and shown in phantom in fig. 1. As also depicted in fig. 1, remote control 200 communicates with either of audio/visual devices 100 and 900 in conjunction with controller 500 via radio frequency transmission, infrared or other wireless transmission. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in other possible embodiments, remote control 200 may communicate via electrically and/or optically conductive cables (not shown). Alternatively and/or additionally, the remote controller 200 may communicate over wireless and cable-based (optical or electrical) connections forming a network between the remote controller 200 and the controller 500.

In addition to or as an alternative to providing the touch sensor 220 on the remote control 220, other embodiments may incorporate the touch sensor 220 directly on a user accessible portion of one or both of the audio/visual devices 100 and 900. In fact, fig. 5 depicts an alternative variation of the audio/visual device 100 having a portable configuration incorporating a display unit 120 displaying a racetrack menu 150 and a touch sensor 220 having a touch-sensitive surface 225 on which a racetrack surface 250 is defined. This alternative variation of the audio/visual device 100 may also incorporate the controller 500 such that most, if not substantially all, of the user interface 1000 is implemented solely by the audio/visual device 100.

Returning to fig. 4, regardless of which audio/visual device incorporates the controller 500, the controller 500 incorporates a plurality of interfaces in the form of one or more connectors and/or one or more wireless transceivers by which the controller 500 can be coupled to one or more sources 901, 902, 903 and/or 904. Any such connection may be disposed on the housing of any audio/visual device in which the controller 500 is incorporated (e.g., the housing 110 of the audio/visual device 100 or the housing of the audio/visual device 900). With such a coupling, the controller 500 can transmit commands to one or more sources 901-904 to access and select audio/visual programming, and can receive audio/visual programming therefrom. Each of the sources 901-904 may be any of a variety of types of audio/visual devices including, but not limited to, an RF tuner (e.g., a cable or satellite dish tuner), a disc media recorder and/or player, a tape media recorder and/or player, a solid state or disc based digital file player (e.g., an MP3 file player), an internet access device for accessing streaming data for audio/visual programs, or a docking cradle for portable audio/visual devices (e.g., a digital camera). Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more of the sources 901-904 may be incorporated into the same audio/visual device (e.g., a built-in disk media player or a built-in radio frequency tuner) in which the controller 500 is incorporated.

In embodiments where one of the sources 901, 904 is not incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, and the one of the sources 901, 904 is coupled to the controller 500 via an interface of the controller 500 using a connector, any of a variety of types of electrical and/or optical signaling that are conveyed via electrically and/or optically conductive cables may be employed. Preferably, a single cable is employed in relaying commands from the controller 500 to the one of the sources 901-904 and relaying audio/visual programming to the controller 500. However, combinations of different cables that perform these functions separately are also possible. Some possible forms of cable capable of relaying both commands and audio/visual programming may conform to one or more industry standards including, but not limited to, Syndicats Constructions d' apparatus radiosources et TeleViseurs (SCART), issued by the American Electronic Industries Association (EIA) of Arlington, VA; ethernet (IEEE-802.3) or IEEE-1394, promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in Washington, D.C.; universal Serial Bus (USB) promulgated by USB implementers forum, OR Portland; digital Visual Interface (DVI) as published by the WA Vancouver Digital Display Working Group (DDWG); high Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) issued by HDMI Licensing ltd of Sunnyvale CA; or DisplayPort, promulgated by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) of Milpitas CA. Other possible forms of just one or other cable capable of relaying commands and audio/visual programming may conform to one or more industry standards, including but not limited to RS-422 or RS-232-C issued by EIA; video Graphics Array (VGA) maintained by VESA; RC-5720C (commonly referred to as Toslink) maintained by the Japan electronic information technology industry Association (JEITA) of Tokyo, Japan; separate Video (S-Video) is widely known and used; or S-Link maintained by Sony corporation of Tokyo, Japan.

In other embodiments where one of the sources 901, 904 is not incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, and where that one of the sources 901, 904 is coupled to the controller 500 via a wireless transceiver, any of a variety of types of infrared, radio frequency, or other wireless signaling may be employed. Preferably, a single wireless point-to-point coupling is employed in both relaying commands from controller 500 to one of sources 901-904 and relaying audio/visual programming to controller 500. However, a combination of separate wireless couplings is also possible in which these functions are performed separately. Some possible forms of wireless signaling capable of relaying both commands and audio/visual programming may conform to one or more industry standards, including but not limited to IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11g, as published by IEEE; bluetooth published by the bluetooth special interest group of Bellevue, WA; or ZigBee issued by the ZigBee alliance of CA San Ramon.

In other embodiments where one of the sources 901,904 is not incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, a combination of cable-based and wireless coupling may be used. An example of such a combination may be the use of a cable-based coupling to enable the controller 500 to receive audio/visual programming from the one of the sources 901 and 904, while an infrared transmitter coupled to the controller 500 may be located at or near the one of the sources 901 and 904 to wirelessly transmit commands to the one of the sources 901 and 904 via infrared. Still further, while fig. 4 depicts each of the sources 901-904 as being directly coupled to the controller 500 in a point-to-point manner, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that one or more of the sources 901-904 may be indirectly coupled to the controller 500 through one or more other sources 901-904 or through a network formed between the sources 901-904 using a plurality of cable-based and/or wireless couplings (and possibly in conjunction with routers, bridges, and other relay devices familiar to those skilled in the art).

Some of the industry standards listed above include command specifications that can be communicated between audio/visual devices to control access to and/or control playback of audio/visual programs, including the best-known SCART, IEEE-1394, USB, HDMI, and bluetooth. In the case where such an industry standard for coupling the controller 500 to one or more sources 901-904 is employed, the controller 500 can limit the commands communicated to the one or more sources 901-904 to those specified by the industry standard and map one or more of those commands to the corresponding menu items 155 such that the user can cause the controller 500 to send those commands to the one or more sources 901-904 by selecting those of the corresponding menu items 155. However, where such standardized commands cannot be utilized, the controller 500 may employ any of a number of methods to identify the one or more sources 901-904 to the extent necessary to "learn" what commands are appropriate for transmission and the manner in which they must be transmitted.

A user of the user interface 1000 may select one of the sources 901-904 as part of selecting an audio/visual program for playback by employing the racetrack surface 250 and the marker 160 to select one or more menu items 155 shown on the racetrack menu 150, such as menu items 155 depicted as "I" through "IV" displayed by the controller 500 on the edge 150c of the racetrack menu 150. Those menu items 155 depicted on edge 150c correspond to sources 901 and 904, which are depicted in FIG. 4 with labels "Source I" through "Source IV". The controller 500 receives input from the touch sensor 220 indicating that the user's finger is in contact with a portion of the racetrack surface 250, indicating that the finger is in contact with the movement of the location 260 with respect to the racetrack surface 250, and indicating that the user is applying more pressure at the location 260 (regardless of where the location 260 is at that moment) by the finger touching the touch sensor 220 when selecting one of the menu items 155. User selection of one of the sources 901-.

Selecting one of the sources 901, 904 may also cause the controller 500 to change the number and type of menu items 155 displayed on one or more edges 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 such that the displayed menu items 155 more closely correspond to the functions that have been supported by whichever of the sources 901, 904 has been selected. Such a change in at least a subset of the menu items 155 is displayed to enable the user to operate at least some functions of the selected one of the sources 901 and 904 by selecting one or more menu items 155 to cause the controller 500 to transmit one or more commands corresponding to those menu items to the selected one of the sources 901 and 904. By way of example, where one of the sources 901-904 capable of recording audio/visual programming was previously selected, the racetrack menu 150 may include one or more menu items 155 that can be selected to cause the controller 500 to transmit a command to the previously selected one of the sources 901-904 to begin recording audio/visual programming. However, if the user has selected another of sources 901-904 from which audio/visual programming cannot be recorded, the controller 500 will change the menu items 155 displayed on the racetrack menu 150 to remove one or more menu items associated with recording audio/visual programming. In this manner, at least a subset of the menu items 155 displayed on the racetrack menu 150 are "modal" in nature insofar as the subset changes as different sources 901 and 904 are selected.

The coupling and/or decoupling of one or more sources 901 and 904 from whatever audio/visual device the controller 500 is incorporated into may also cause the controller 500 to change the number and/or types of menu items 155 displayed in another example, in which embodiment at least a subset of the menu items 155 are modal in nature. By way of example, in the case where one of the sources 901 and 904 has been coupled by a cable, the decoupling of that one of the sources 901 and 904 may cause the controller 500 to remove one of the menu items 155 by which the one of the sources 901 and 904 that is now decoupled may be selected. Alternatively or additionally, in case the decoupled one of the sources 901-904 has been selected while such decoupling such that the subset of menu items 155 meaning functions that can be performed by the now decoupled one of the sources 901-904 is displayed, the controller 500 may respond to such decoupling by selecting the other one of the sources 901-904 by itself and changing the subset of menu items 155 to correspond to functions that can be performed by the newly selected one of the sources 901-904. In contrast, and by way of another example, in the case where one of the sources 901 and 904 has been wirelessly coupled, decoupling that one of the sources 901 and 904 may or may not cause the controller 500 to remove a menu item 155 by which the now decoupled one of the sources 901 and 904 may be selected. If a mechanism is provided in the selected form of wireless communication used in the coupling that indicates that the decoupling was simply due to the one of the sources 901-904 entering a low power or "sleep" mode, the controller 500 may not make changes to the displayed menu items 155, particularly if the used form of wireless communication allows the controller 500 to signal the one of the sources 901-904 to "wake up" in response to the user selecting the one menu item 155 associated therewith. However, if there is no such mechanism to indicate a situation where decoupling is available, decoupling may suitably result in the alteration or removal of at least some of the menu items 155 displayed on the racetrack menu 150. In the event that the previously decoupled one of the sources 901 and 904 is subsequently coupled again, the controller 500 may be caused to automatically select the one of the sources 901 and 904 that is now coupled, regardless of the type of coupling. This may be done based on the assumption that the user has coupled the source to whatever audio/visual device the controller 500 is incorporated into with the intent to immediately play the audio/visual program from the source.

While at least some of the menu items 155 may be modal in nature such that they are susceptible to variation based on the selection and/or condition of one or more of the sources 901-904, other menu items 155 may not be modal in nature such that they are displayed at all times while the racetrack menu 150 is displayed. More specifically, where one or more sources 901-904 are incorporated into the same audio/visual device as controller 500, the menu items 155 associated with those sources may remain displayed in the racetrack menu 150, regardless of whether there are many possible events that would cause other menu items 155 having modal properties to be displayed, not displayed, or in some altered form. By way of example, where the radio frequency tuner is incorporated into the same audio/visual device in which the controller 500 is incorporated, then a subset of the menu items 155 associated with selecting a radio frequency channel (e.g., the decimal point depicted as being displayed in edge 150a and the numbers "0" through "9") may be taken as a subset of the menu items 155 that are always displayed in the racetrack menu 150. Selecting any of such a subset of menu items 155 may cause the controller 500 to automatically switch the selection of the source of the audio/visual program to the source associated with those menu items. Thus, in the example of an audio/visual device incorporating a radio frequency tuner and always displaying a menu item 155 associated with selecting a radio frequency channel, if the tuner has not already been selected as a source, selection of any of those menu items will cause the controller 500 to automatically switch to the radio frequency tuner as the source from which to receive audio/visual programming. By way of another example, one or more menu items 155 (e.g., roman numerals "I" through "IV" depicted as being displayed in edge 150 c) associated with selecting a source of audio/visual programming may be menu items that are displayed throughout the racetrack menu 150.

Regardless of which source is selected or how the source is selected, if the audio/visual program received by controller 500 from that source has a visual portion, controller 500 causes that visual portion to be displayed in display area 950. As so far depicted and described, the racetrack menu 150 is a rectilinear configuration having four sides 150a-d configured to surround or cover the edges of the display area 950. However, in some embodiments, the racetrack menu 150 may not be displayed all the time such that what is displayed on the display unit 120 of the audio/visual device 100 may be a display area 950 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150, or a display area 950 that is expanded to fill the area otherwise occupied by the racetrack menu 150.

As depicted in fig. 6, the content shown on the display unit 120 may be switched between these two possibilities (toggle), and such switching may occur in response to observed activity and/or lack of observed activity in the operation of at least the runway surface 250. More specifically, in the event that controller 500 does not receive an indication of a user's finger making contact on runway surface 250 for at least a predetermined period of time, controller 500 may provide an image to display unit 120 that does not substantially include anything other than display area 95, such that the viewable portion of the audiovisual program is substantially the only content shown on display unit 120. However, once the controller 500 has received an indication of an activity, such as a fingertip making contact with the runway surface 250, the controller 500 provides an image to the display unit 120 that includes a combination of the display area 950 and the runway menu 150.

In some embodiments, when both the display area 950 and the racetrack menu 150 are displayed, the controller 500 reduces the size of the display area 950 to make room around the edges of the display area 950 to display the racetrack menu 150 on the display unit 120, and in so doing, may readjust the visible portion (if any) of whatever audio/visual program may be playing at that time. In other embodiments, the display area 950 is not resized, but rather the racetrack menu 150 is displayed in such a manner that it covers an edge portion of the display area 950 such that the edge portion of the visual portion of the audio/visual program is no longer visible. However, in those embodiments where the racetrack menu overlays an edge portion of the display area 950, the racetrack menu 150 may be displayed in a manner where at least some portions thereof exhibit a somewhat "transparent" quality, with the edge portion of any visible portion of the audio/visual program being overlaid still being visible by the user "through" the racetrack menu 150. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, this "transparency" quality may be achieved by any of a number of methods for merging image pixels of the racetrack menu 150 with pixels of a portion of any visual portion of the audio/visual program that is overlaid (e.g., by averaging pixel color values, alternatively interspersing pixels, or bitwise binary merging of pixels with a pixel mask).

In conjunction with merging the visual display of the display area 950 with the racetrack menu 150, the controller 500 may also merge audio associated with the operation of the user interface 1000 with the audio portion (if present) of the audio/visual program being played. More specifically, the "click" associated with the user pressing the racetrack surface 250 defined on the surface of the touch sensor 220 with greater pressure and/or the "snapping" of the marker 160 between adjacent menu items 155 can be merged with whatever audio portion is audibly output as part of the playing of the audio/visual program.

In some embodiments, when the racetrack menu 150 is not displayed (e.g., when only the display area 950 is displayed), the controller 500 performs more operations than simply causing the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed in response to a user touching a portion of the racetrack sensors 250. More specifically, in addition to causing the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed, the controller 500 may take a particular action in response to a particular one of the edges 250a-d of the racetrack surface 250 being touched by the user when the racetrack menu 150 is not displayed. By way of example, when the racetrack menu 150 is not displayed, detecting a touch of edge 250d may cause a command to be sent to one of sources 901 and 904 to provide on-screen guidance related to audio/visual programs that can be provided by that source, where such guidance is to be displayed in a display area 950, as previously described, where the edges of the display area 950 are surrounded or overlaid by the racetrack menu 150.

In a variation of such an embodiment, having the racetrack menu 150 displayed requires the user's fingertip to touch and move some minimal amount across the racetrack surface 250 (i.e., a "touch-drag" or "wipe" motion across a portion of the racetrack surface 250), while taking other specific actions in response to the user's fingertip making contact only on a specific one of the edges 250a-d of the racetrack sensor 250. By way of example, when the racetrack menu 150 is not displayed, touching edge 250a may cause a command to be sent to the source to cause the source to start or shut down, and touching edge 250b may cause the audio portion of the audio/visual program to be muted, requiring a finger to be touched and moved across a portion of the racetrack surface 250 in a "wiping" motion to enable the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed and used.

Fig. 7a and 7b collectively depict additional features that may be incorporated into the user interface 1000. Where a selected one of the sources 901,904 is displaying its own on-screen menu 170 (e.g., a guide related to audio/visual programming available from that source) in place of or overlaying the visual portion of the audio/visual programming, some embodiments of the user interface 1000 may be augmented to at least partially support integration of the manner in which a user may navigate such on-screen menu 170 into the user interface 1000. In such an embodiment, the touch sensor 220 having its ring shape (whether the ring shape is a rectangular ring shape or a ring shape of a different geometry) may be configured to surround a set of controls for navigating the on-screen menu 170, as if the racetrack menu 150 itself surrounded the on-screen menu 170.

In particular, fig. 7b depicts the manner in which the touch sensor 220 disposed on the housing 210 of the remote control 200 of fig. 1 may surround the navigation buttons 270a, 270b, 270c, and 270d and the selection button 280 also disposed on the housing 210. In alternative variations, the touch sensor 220 may surround other forms of one or more manually-operable controls, including but not limited to a joystick, or a four-way rocker switch that may surround a selection button (such as selection button 280) or may be used as a selection button by pressing the middle, in addition to or instead of the navigation buttons 270a-d and selection button 280. As a result of using the ring shape of the touch sensor 220 to surround the navigation buttons 270a-d and the selection button 280, a nested arrangement of concentrically positioned manually-operable controls is created. Fig. 7a depicts a possible on-screen menu format, which should be familiar to those skilled in the art, comprising various menu items 175 that can be selected via a selection button 280, and a marker 180 that can be moved between menu items 175 by a user via navigation buttons 270 a-d. The concentric nested arrangement of manually-operable controls surrounded by racetrack surface 250 defined on touch-sensitive surface 225 of touch sensor 220 disposed on housing 210 of remote control 200 corresponds to a similar nested arrangement of on-screen menus 170 surrounded by racetrack menu 150 displayed on display unit 120.

FIG. 7b also depicts additional controls 222, 224, 226, and 228 that may be used to perform a particular function in situations where it may be deemed desirable to provide at least some degree of functionality in a manner that does not require selection of an operational menu item. In one possible variation, the controls 222, 224, 226, and 228 may operate as a power button, a mute button, a volume rocker switch, and a channel up/down rocker switch, respectively. Fig. 8 depicts a variation of the handheld version of the audio/visual device 100 depicted in fig. 5, wherein the touch sensor 220 is positioned around the navigation buttons 270a-d and the selection button 280, and wherein such a variation of the handheld version of the audio/visual device 100 may also incorporate the controls 222, 224, 226, and 228.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a possible architecture of a controller 500, wherein the controller 500 incorporates an output interface 510, a sensor interface 520, storage 540, a processing device 550, and a source interface 590. The processing device 550 is coupled to each of the output interface 510, the sensor interface 520, the storage 540, and the source interface 590 to at least coordinate the operation of each to perform at least the functions of the controller 500 described above.

The processing device 550 may be any of various types of processing devices based on any of various technologies, including but not limited to a general purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a microcontroller, or a sequencer (sequencer). The storage 540 may be based on any of a variety of data storage technologies, including but not limited to any of various types of volatile and non-volatile solid-state memory, magnetic media storage, and/or optical media storage. It should be noted that although the store 540 is depicted in a manner that implies that it is a single storage device, the store 540 may be comprised of multiple storage devices, each of which may be based on different technologies.

Each of output interface 510, sensor interface 520, and source interface 590 may employ any of a variety of techniques to enable controller 500 to communicate with other devices and/or other components of whatever audio/visual device controller 500 is incorporated into. More specifically, where the controller 500 is incorporated into an audio/visual device that also incorporates one or both of a display unit (such as the display unit 120) and at least one sound driver (such as the sound driver 130), the output interface 510 may be of a type that is capable of directly driving the display unit with signals that cause the display of the racetrack menu 150 and the display area 950 to display a visual portion of the audio/visual program and/or that are capable of directly driving one or more sound drivers to audibly output an audio portion of the audio/visual program. Alternatively, where one or both of the display unit and the sound driver are not incorporated into the same audio/visual device in which the controller 500 is incorporated, the output interface 510 may be a cable-based and/or wireless signaling (perhaps one that conforms to one of the previously listed industry standards) that is employed to transmit signals to another audio/visual device (e.g., the audio/visual device 100) in which the display device and/or the sound driver are incorporated.

Similarly, in the case where the controller 500 is incorporated into an audio/visual device in which the touch sensor 220 is also incorporated, the sensor interface 520 may be of a type capable of directly receiving an electrical signal emitted from the touch sensor 220. With such a more direct coupling, the sensor interface 520 may directly monitor the two-dimensional array of touch sensitive points of the touch sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 for indications of those touch sensitive points being touched by a user's fingertip, thereby enabling the processing device 550 to employ those indications to directly determine where the touch sensitive surface 225 was touched. Thus, a determination of whether a fingertip is in contact with a portion of the runway surface 250 and/or the location 260 may be enabled by the processing device 550. However, in the case where the controller 500 is incorporated into a device in which the touch sensor 220 is not also incorporated (e.g., the controller 500 is incorporated into the audio/visual device 100 and the touch sensor is incorporated into the remote control 200), the sensor interface 520 may be of a type capable of receiving cable-based and/or wireless signaling (e.g., infrared signals emitted by the remote control 200) transmitted by other devices. With such a more remote coupling, circuitry (not shown) co-located with touch sensor 220 may perform the task of directly monitoring the two-dimensional array of touch-sensitive points of touch-sensitive surface 225 and then communicating to sensor interface 520 an indication of which touch-sensitive points were touched by the user's fingertip.

While the audio/visual device in which controller 500 is incorporated may not incorporate any source from which controller 500 receives audio/visual programming (such as sources 901 and 904), it is considered more likely that the audio/visual device in which controller 500 is incorporated will incorporate one or more such sources in addition to being capable of receiving audio/visual programming from sources that are not incorporated into the same audio/visual device. By way of example, it is contemplated that the controller 500 may be incorporated into an audio/visual device into which a radio frequency tuner and/or an internet access device is also incorporated to enable access to audio/visual programming for selection and playback without engaging another audio/visual device, while also being capable of coupling to another audio/visual device to receive still other audio/visual programming. In other words, it is contemplated that the controller 500 may be suitably incorporated into an audio/visual device that is at least similar to a television, whether portable (e.g., as depicted in fig. 5) or stationary (e.g., as depicted in fig. 1). Thus, while source interface 590 may have any number of configurations to couple controller 500 to any number of possible sources, it is contemplated that source interface 590 will be configured to enable controller 500 to be coupled to at least one source that is also incorporated into the same audio/visual device in which controller 500 is incorporated, and also to enable controller 500 to be coupled to at least one source that is not incorporated into the same audio/visual device.

Thus, the source interface 590 incorporates one or more electrical interfaces 595, optical interfaces 596, radio frequency transceivers 598, and/or infrared receivers 599. An electrical interface 595 (if present) enables the source interface 590 to couple the controller 500 to at least one source, whether or not incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, to receive electrical signals (e.g., ethernet, S-Video, USB, HDMI, etc.) that convey audio/visual programming to the controller 500. Optical interface 596 (if present) enables source interface 590 to couple controller 500 to at least one source to receive optical signals (e.g., Toslink) that convey audio/visual programming to controller 500. Radio-frequency transceiver 598 (if present) enables source interface 590 to wirelessly couple controller 500 to at least one other audio/visual device serving as a source to receive radio-frequency signals (e.g., bluetooth, a variation of IEEE 802.11, ZigBee, etc.) that convey audio/visual programming from the other audio/visual device to controller 500. Infrared receiver 599 (if present) causes source interface 590 to wirelessly couple controller 500 to other audio/visual devices acting as sources to receive infrared signals conveying audio/visual programming from the other sources to controller 500. It should be noted that although output interface 510 and sensor 520 are depicted as being independent of source interface 590, depending on the nature of the signaling supported, it may be considered advantageous to combine one or both of output interface 510 and sensor interface 520 with source interface 590.

Stored within storage 540 are one or more of control program 450, protocol data 492, command data 493, audio/visual data 495, readjusted audio/visual data 496, and menu data 498. Once executed by the processing device 550, the sequences of instructions of the control program 450 cause the processing device 550 to coordinate monitoring of the touch sensors 220 for user input, output of the racetrack menu 150 to a display element (e.g., display element 120), selection of an audio/visual source to be played, and display of a visual portion of the audio/visual program on the display element on which the racetrack menu 150 is also displayed, and audible output of an audio portion of the audio/visual program via one or more sound drivers (e.g., sound driver 130), or both.

Once executed, the control routine 450 causes the processing device 550 to operate the sensor interface 520 to await a user indication of a fingertip being placed in contact with a portion of the runway surface 250 defined on the surface of the touch sensor 220, a finger being moved relative to the runway surface 250, and/or a greater pressure being applied at a location 260 on the runway surface 250 to make a selection. Upon receiving an indication by a user relating to the racetrack surface 250, if the racetrack menu 150 is not already being displayed, the processing device 550 may be caused to operate the output interface 510 to display, via the display unit, the racetrack menu 150 having one or more menu items 155 located thereon and a surrounding display area 950. The processing device 550 may also be caused to display and locate at least the marker 160 on the racetrack menu 150 in a manner that corresponds to the position 260 of the user's finger on the racetrack surface 250. Additionally, in response to the predetermined period of time elapsing without receiving an indication of a user-performed action involving the runway surface 250, the processing device 550 may be caused to operate the output interface 510 to cease displaying the runway menu 150 and to display substantially nothing on the display unit other than the display area 950.

Once executed, the control program 450 causes the processing component 550 to operate the sensor interface 520 to await an indication of selection of a menu item 155 corresponding to a source from which the user may wish to provide audio/visual programming for playback, and may operate the source interface 590 to at least enable reception of the audio/visual programming from the selected source. In the event an audio/visual program is received, processing device 550 may also be caused to buffer the audio and/or visual portions of the audio/visual program in storage 540 as audio/visual data 495. In embodiments where the visual portion of the audio/visual program is readjusted to be displayed in the display area 950 as it is surrounded by the racetrack menu 150, the processing element 550 may also be caused to buffer the readjusted form of the visual portion in storage 540 as readjusted audio/visual program data 496.

Once executed, the control program 450 causes the processing device 550 to operate the sensor interface 520 to await an indication of a selection of a menu item 155 corresponding to a selection of a command to be transmitted to the audio/visual device as a source (e.g., a "play" or "record" command, a number or other symbol specifying a radio frequency channel to be tuned, etc.), and may operate the source interface 590 to transmit the command to the audio/visual device corresponding to the menu item 155 that has been selected (e.g., one of the sources 901 and 904). In transmitting the command, processing device 550 may also be caused to refer to protocol data 492 of data related to a signal sequence that must be transmitted by source interface 590 as part of the communication protocol in preparation for transmitting the command, and/or processing device 550 may also be caused to refer to command data 493 of data related to a signal sequence that must be transmitted by source interface 590 as part of the transmit command. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, some of the previously listed forms of coupling enable various aspects of the communicated commands and/or data to be organized using various protocols, including but not limited to Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE-1394, USB, and the like. In supporting the processing device 550 in response to selection of the respective menu items 155, the processing device 550 is further caused to store data associating at least some of the respective menu items with actions to be taken by the processing device 550 in response to their selection by the user in the storage 540 as menu data 498.

In operating the source interface 590 to enable the reception of audio/visual programming from a source selected by the user, the processing device 550 may be caused to operate the output interface 510 to change the number and/or types of menu items 155 displayed at various locations of the racetrack menu 150. In doing so, the processing device 550 may also be caused to store information relating to the size, shape, color, and other characteristics of the racetrack menu 150, at least some graphical representations of the menu items 155, and/or at least some graphical representations of the markers 160 in the store 540 as part of the menu data 498.

Fig. 10a and 10b collectively depict and contrast two variations of the touch sensor 220. Both variants are depicted in perspective view as distinct touch sensitive devices typically mounted in recesses of the device housing, including any variant of housing 110 of audio/visual device 100 or any variant of housing 210 of remote control 200. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, other touch sensitive device technologies may produce variations of the touch sensitive device 220 as a similar film overlay, which may be positioned to cover a portion of a device housing or circuit board. The following discussion focuses more on the shape and application of the touch sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 than on the touch sensitive technology employed.

Fig. 10a depicts an alternative variation of the touch sensor 220 having a ring shape, which has been discussed in long-run format above, that allows other manually-operable controls (e.g., navigation buttons 270a-d and selection button 280) to be positioned in such a way that they are surrounded by the ring shape of the touch sensor 220. As already discussed, the annular shape of this variation of touch sensor 220 provides the form in which touch sensitive surface 225 is bounded by the annular shape of touch sensor 220, and this in turn defines an annular shape of racetrack surface 250 (where racetrack surface 250 is defined on touch sensitive surface 225 to encompass substantially all of touch sensitive surface 225). Again, while this variation of the touch sensor 220 is depicted as a rectangular ring having four sides, other embodiments are possible in which the touch sensor 220 has a ring shape of a different geometric shape, such as a circular ring shape, an elliptical ring shape, a hexagonal ring shape, and so forth.

FIG. 10b depicts an alternative variation of a touch sensor 220 having a rectangular ring shape that provides a continuous form of the touch-sensitive surface 225 bounded by the rectangular ring shape (i.e., without the "holes" formed through the touch-sensitive surface 225). This rectangle more readily enables content other than the loop of the racetrack surface 250 to be defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 in such a way that the racetrack surface 250 contains only a portion of the touch-sensitive surface 225 and leaves the possibility of also defining one or more other surfaces thereon that provide other functions. In this alternative variation, the loop shape of the runway surface 250 may be defined by a processing device executing a sequence of instructions of a program, such as the processing device 550 executing the control program 450 in fig. 9. In other words, the location of the racetrack surface 250 may be defined by a processing device that is first provided with an indication of which touch-sensitive points of the array of touch-sensitive points of the touch-sensitive surface 225 are touched by the user's fingertips, and second regards some of those touch-sensitive points as belonging to the racetrack surface 250 and others of those touch-sensitive points as belonging to other surfaces defined (and providing other functionality) on the touch-sensitive surface 225.

Alternatively and/or additionally, one or more ridges (ridges) 227 and/or grooves (not shown) may be formed in the touch-sensitive surface 225 to provide at least tactile guidance with respect to the runway surface 250 defined thereat on the touch-sensitive surface 225. Such ridges 227 may be integrally formed with the touch-sensitive surface 225, may be formed as part of a housing on which the touch sensor 220 is disposed, or may be attached to the touch-sensitive surface 225. Additionally, such ridges 227 and/or grooves (not shown) may coincide with locations on the touch-sensitive surface 225 where the touch sensor 220 cannot detect a fingertip touch (i.e., the touch-sensitive surface 225 may be made up of a plurality of individual touch-sensitive portions, one of which is a portion having an annular shape in which the racetrack surface 250 is defined).

More specifically, and as depicted by the dashed lines in fig. 10b, the racetrack surface 250 is defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 so as to be positioned around the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface 225, such that an annulus of the racetrack surface 250 surrounds the remainder of the touch-sensitive surface 225. As also depicted, at least a portion of the touch-sensitive surface 225 surrounded by the runway surface 250 can be used to provide equivalent functionality to other manually-operable controls such as navigation buttons 270a-d and selection button 280. In other words, the navigation buttons 270a-d and the selection button 280 may be implemented along with the racetrack surface 250 as a navigation surface and a selection surface, respectively, defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 (perhaps by a processing device executing a sequence of instructions).

It should be noted that although two variants of the touch sensor 220 have been depicted in fig. 10a and 10b as having a rectangle with right-angled corners, either variant may alternatively have rounded corners. Indeed, although depicted in fig. 10a and 10b as having right angle corners, where such a variation of touch sensor 220 has two or more ridges 227 and/or grooves (not shown), such ridges 227 and/or grooves may also have rounded corners.

Fig. 11a and 11b together depict two variations of the user interface 1000 in which more than one display area is defined within the portion of the display unit 120 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150. These variations enable more than one visual portion of one or more selected audio/visual programs to be played on the display unit 120 in a manner that enables the user to view them simultaneously. Also depicted is the manner in which individual menu items 155 associated within only one display area may be positioned along the racetrack menu 150 to provide a visual indication of their association with that display area.

More specifically, fig. 11 depicts a configuration commonly referred to as "picture-in-picture" in which a display area 970 having a smaller size than the display area 950 is located within and covers a portion of the display area 950. Also as depicted, one menu item 155 associated with the visual portion displayed in the display area 970 is positioned along the portion of the racetrack menu 150 that is closer to the display area 970 (specifically, the portions of edges 150b and 150d) to provide an associated visual indication to the user. In addition, one menu item 155 associated with the visual portion displayed in the display area 950 is positioned along a portion of the racetrack menu 150 that is further from the display area 970 (specifically, portions of the edges 150a and 150 c) to provide the user with other associated visual indications. As suggested in the depiction of fig. 11a, the menu items 155 associated with the display area 950 correspond to commands to play or stop playing an audio/visual program, select input, and radio frequency channel tuning. Menu item 155 associated with display area 970 corresponds to a command to play or stop playing an audio/visual program and select an input.

Still more particularly, FIG. 11b depicts a configuration commonly referred to as a "picture by picture" in which the display areas 950 and 970 are positioned adjacent to one another (as opposed to overlapping one another) within the portion of the display element surrounded by the racetrack menu 150. As again depicted, one menu item 155 associated with the visual portion displayed in the display area 950 is positioned along the portion of the racetrack menu 150 that is closer to the display area 950 (specifically, edge 150c and a portion of edges 150a and 150 b) to provide an associated visual indication to the user. Additionally, one menu item 155 associated with the visual portion displayed in the display area 970 is positioned along the portion of the racetrack menu 150 that is closer to the display area 970 (specifically, edge 150d and a portion of edges 150a and 150 b) to provide the user with other associated visual indications. As suggested in the depiction of fig. 11b, each display area 950 and 970 is associated with a separate menu item 155 corresponding to commands for playing and stopping the playing of audio/visual programs, selection input, and radio frequency channel tuning.

While fig. 11a and 11b depict embodiments having only two display areas (i.e., display areas 950 and 970) within the portion of the display unit 120 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that other embodiments incorporating more than two such display areas are possible, and that in such embodiments, each menu item 155 may be positioned along the racetrack menu 150 in a manner that provides a visual indication of its association with one of those display areas. Indeed, it is envisioned that variations of the user interface 1000 may have an array of 2 by 2 or more display areas to accommodate simultaneous display of multiple visual portions that may be in a security application.

While fig. 11a and 11b depict separate sets of menu items 155 corresponding to commands for playing and stopping the playing of audio/visual programs separately associated with each of the display areas 950 and 970, and while this suggests that the visual portions played in each of the display areas 950 and 970 must be from different audio/visual programs, it should be noted that the visual portions displayed simultaneously in the display areas 950 and 970 may belong to the same audio/visual program. As those skilled in the art will readily recognize, an audio/visual program may have more than one visual portion. Such an example may be a video including events taken from more than one angle, such as an audio/visual program of a sporting event, where the athlete is shown with motion from more than one camera angle. In such instances, there may be only one set of menu items 155 corresponding to commands for playing, fast-forwarding, rewinding, pausing, and/or stopping the play of a single audio/visual program, rather than the separate sets of menu items depicted in fig. 11a and 11 b.

With the simultaneous display of multiple visual portions, there may be multiple audio portions that each correspond to a different visual portion. While it is relatively easy for a user to view multiple visual portions simultaneously with the user being able to select any visual program to view with their eyes, listening to multiple audio portions simultaneously can easily become cumbersome. To address this issue, some embodiments may select one audio portion to be audibly output to the user based on the position 260 (referring back to fig. 2) of the fingertip along the runway surface 250. In the event that the user places a fingertip at a location 260 on the racetrack surface 250 that corresponds to a portion of the racetrack menu 150 that is closer to the display area 950, then the audio portion of the audio/visual program that is the visual portion displayed in the display area 950 is audibly output to the user. If the user then moves the fingertip along the racetrack surface 250 such that the position 260 moves to a portion of the racetrack surface 250 corresponding to a portion of the racetrack menu 150 closer to the display area 970, the audio portion of the audio/visual program that is displayed in the display area 970 is audibly output to the user. Since the selection of the audio portion audibly output to the user varies as the user moves the fingertip relative to the racetrack surface 250, the corresponding position of the marker 160 along the racetrack menu 150 can serve as a visual indication of which visual portion the user's current selection of the audio portion corresponds to.

Fig. 12 depicts an alternative variation of the user interface 1000 in which the combined display of the racetrack menu 150 and the display area 950 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150 does not fill substantially all of the display elements 120. Such an embodiment may be implemented on more complex variations of audio/visual device 100 that are capable of performing multiple functions simultaneously, some of which are completely unrelated to selecting and playing audio/visual programs. As depicted, this leaves a display area 920 outside of the racetrack menu 150 and covered by the combination of the racetrack menus 150 and 950, which can be used for such unrelated functions. A more sophisticated variant of the audio/visual device 100 may be a general purpose computer system, possibly one used as a "media center system" or "whole house entertainment system". In such embodiments, the combination of the racetrack menu 150 and the display area 950 may be displayed in a window defined by an operating system having a windowed graphical user interface that occupies substantially less than all of the display elements 120.

As also depicted in fig. 12, in such embodiments, a user may select and control the playing of an audio/visual program by using a variation of touch sensor 220 having a touch-sensitive surface 225, such touch-sensitive surface 225 having a continuous rectangular shape (such as the variation of touch sensor 220 of fig. 10 b), as opposed to having a circular shape (such as the variation of touch sensor 220 of fig. 10 a). Racetrack surface 250 is defined on touch-sensitive surface 225 in a manner that occupies the periphery of touch-sensitive surface 225 and surrounds the remainder of touch-sensitive surface 225, which enables conventional operation of other functions of audio/visual device 100 to be independent of selecting and playing audio/visual programs. In essence. This remaining portion of the touch-sensitive surface 225, on which the user moves with respect to the graphical cursor using a fingertip placed thereon, may be employed in a conventional manner that will be familiar to those skilled in the art of graphical user interfaces. Thus, the user may choose to select audio/visual programs and control the playing of those audio/visual programs through the racetrack surface 250, and to perform other tasks unrelated to the selection and playing of audio/visual programs through the remainder of the touch-sensitive surface 225.

To provide tactile guidance to the user regarding the location of the runway surface 250, one or more ridges 227 and/or grooves (not shown) may be formed in the touch-sensitive surface 225. In this manner, a user may be helped when placing a fingertip on either of the runway surface 250 or the rest of the touch-sensitive surface 225 on which they wish to place the fingertip without misplacing the fingertip on both and without having to slide across the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220.

Fig. 13a and 13b depict additional features that may be incorporated into the user interface 1000, wherein one or more submenus 151 of the racetrack menu 150 are supported. One or more submenus 151 may be provided to enable a user of the user interface 1000 to control operational aspects of one or more audio/visual devices that do not require frequent user interaction, such as configuration of parameters of input, output, audio processing, and/or video processing by one or more audio/visual devices. As will be familiar to most people who have ever operated audio/visual devices of some complexity, there are common settings that require user interaction to change only when the audio/visual device is first installed, when it is first connected to another audio/visual device, and/or when the manner in which it is installed or connected to another audio/visual device changes significantly. Thus, for purposes of easier operation and clear presentation, menu items 156 associated with such operational aspects that interact so infrequently are preferably not placed on the track menu 150, but instead are placed on one or more submenus 151. During normal operation of the user interface 1000, the racetrack menu 150 may be made visible in the manner already described in the long run, but typically no submenu 151 is made visible. Instead, as already described in the long run, the display area 950 or a combination of the display area 950, the racetrack menu 150 and possibly a further display area 970 is shown on the display unit 120.

As depicted in fig. 13a, to cause one submenu 151 to be displayed, the runway surface 250 defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 is monitored (perhaps by the processing device 550 of the controller 500 as a result of executing the control program 450) while the runway menu 150 is displayed for a situation in which the user places a fingertip on the runway surface 250 at a location corresponding to one menu item 155 (e.g., the depicted voice driver-like menu item 155) corresponding to one submenu 151 and presses harder to select that one menu item. As has been explained previously, the marker 160 moves with respect to the racetrack menu 150 to continually maintain a position generally corresponding to the position of the fingertip in contact with the racetrack surface 250. In response to a selection by the user, the submenu 151 corresponding to that one menu item 155 is displayed such that one submenu 151 is positioned concentrically with respect to the racetrack menu 150, thereby being surrounded by the racetrack menu 150 (i.e., nested within the racetrack menu 150).

As a submenu 151 is displayed, the marker 160 ceases to overlay a menu item 155 selected by the user and is repositioned within a submenu 151. When so repositioned, the marker 160 may be repositioned to a position within a submenu 151 corresponding to the connection marker 161, the connection marker 161 providing a visual reference indicating a menu item 155 associated with a submenu 151 and indicating that the marker 160 must be positioned within a submenu 151 to enable a user to select to cause the marker 160 to be repositioned back to a position within the racetrack menu 150. One or more submenu items 156 are positioned around a submenu 151 and with the marker 160 so positioned within a submenu 151, the user can move the marker 160 with respect to a submenu 151 and select a submenu item 156 in much the same manner as already described with respect to movement and selection within the racetrack menu 150.

As has been described previously, the racetrack menu 150 may cover the periphery of the display area 950 when displayed, or the display area 950 may be sized to fit within the portion of the display unit 120 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150. In a variant where the racetrack menu 150 covers the display area 950, a submenu 151 may also be displayed in such a way that one submenu 151 covers the display area 950. In variations where the display area 950 may be sized to fit within the portion of the display unit 120 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150, the display area 950 may be further sized to fit within the portion of the display unit surrounded by the combination of the racetrack menu 150 and one of the submenus 151. However, covering the display area with the racetrack menu 150 and one submenu 151 or resizing the display area 950 to fit within the smaller remaining portion of the display unit 120 surrounded by the combination of the racetrack menu 150 and one submenu 151 may be considered an overly overlapping coverage on the display area 950 or an overly reduced size of the display area 950. Thus, the display area 950 may simply not be displayed when one sub-menu 151 is displayed, or the display area 950 may be sized to fit within the portion of the display unit 120 surrounded only by the racetrack menu 150 and one sub-menu 151 covering the display area 950.

Additionally, while fig. 13a depicts only one submenu 151 positioned concentrically within the portion of the display unit 120 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150 (i.e., nested), and one submenu 151 is depicted as having four edges (i.e., edges 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d) corresponding to the four edges of the racetrack menu 150 (i.e., edges 150a, 150b, 150c, and 150d, respectively), fig. 13b depicts the possibility of another submenu 152 being nested within one submenu 151 and having fewer than four edges. More specifically, fig. 13b depicts another submenu 152 positioned within the portion of the display unit surrounded by the combination of the racetrack menu 150 and one submenu 151, and depicts another submenu 152 having only two sides 152b and 152 c. Enabling the display of the other sub-menu 152 is done in much the same way as enabling the display of one sub-menu 151. As one submenu 151 is displayed, the racetrack surface 250 is monitored for situations in which the user operates the user interface 1000 to position the marker 160 on one submenu item 156 associated with another submenu 152 and presses harder on the racetrack surface 250 at a location associated with the one submenu item 156 to select it. As the other sub-menu 152 is displayed, the marker 160 is repositioned within the other sub-menu 152 at a position corresponding to the other connection marker 161, indicating that the marker 160 must be positioned within the other sub-menu 152 to enable the user to make a selection to have the marker 160 positioned back within one sub-menu 151 (or possibly back within the racetrack menu 150).

The submenu may cease to be displayed when the user operates the user interface 1000 to move the marker 160 back out of the submenu and back to the racetrack menu 150 or to the submenu in which the submenu item associated with the submenu to which the user just moved the marker 160 back out is located. In other words, when the user moves the marker 160 to another location within the submenu 152 where the user may choose to move the marker 160 back to a location within one of the submenus 151, the action to do so may cause the other submenu 152 to stop being displayed. The user moves the marker 160 to a position within a sub-menu where the user may choose to move the marker 160 back to the racetrack menu 150, and in so doing, may cause a sub-menu 151 to cease being displayed. Alternatively, the submenu to which the user has moved the marker 160 out may be caused to stop displaying only after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the marker 160 was last positioned within the submenu.

Additionally, in the event that the user has manipulated the user interface 1000 to an extent that causes the indicia 160 to be repositioned within a submenu, one or more submenus may be caused to cease being displayed, one at a time in timed intervals. For example, in the case where the user has operated the user interface 1000 to such an extent that both submenus 151 and 152 are displayed (as depicted in fig. 13 b), then the user stops operating the user interface 1000, another submenu 152 may stop displaying after a first time interval has elapsed, followed by one submenu 151 stopping displaying after a second time interval has elapsed, and followed by the racetrack menu 150 stopping displaying after a third time interval has elapsed. If the marker 160 is located within another submenu 152 when the other submenu 152 stops being displayed, the marker 160 may be moved to one submenu 151 without requiring user interaction to cause it to move as such. Similarly, if the marker 160 is within one of the submenus 151 when one of the submenus 151 stops being displayed, the marker 160 may move to the racetrack menu 150.

Fig. 14 shows a variation of one of the submenus 151 depicted in fig. 13a-b, wherein one of the submenus 151 again has edges corresponding to the four edges 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150, but wherein the edges in this variation of one of the submenus 151 are arranged to nest between themselves in a "spiral-like" manner. In this manner, a greater number of menu items may be positioned within a submenu without requiring one submenu to be nested within another, and a large single submenu may be generated as needed to incorporate a large number of menu items while making more use of the display unit.

It should be noted with respect to the depiction of possible architectures for the controller 500 in fig. 9 that although the source interface 590 is depicted as possibly employing only infrared wireless communication with the one or more sources 901-904 in a manner that receives audio/visual programming from the one or more sources 901-904 via the infrared receiver 599, other variations of architectures are possible in which the source interface 590 (or some other component of the controller 500) employs an infrared transmitter (not shown) incorporated into the source interface 590 (possibly by replacing the infrared receiver 599 with an infrared transmitter) to provide commands to the one or more sources 901-904. In addition, still other variations of architectures are possible in which one or the other of the optical interface 596 or the electrical interface 595 is used to couple the controller 500 to an infrared transmitter (not shown) that is external to the housing of whatever audio/visual device the controller 500 is incorporated into, and is physically configured to be placed at an infrared receiver that is relatively close to one of the sources 901 and 904.

Fig. 15a and 15b depict additional features that may be incorporated into the user interface 1000, wherein the user is enabled to customize the user interface 1000 to the extent that the user selects which menu items 155 are displayed on the racetrack menu 150. As discussed above (particularly with respect to fig. 4), an advantage of the user interface 1000 is that the selection of which menu items 155 to display on the racetrack menu 150 can be made based at least in part on which of the sources 901 and 904 (or other audio/visual devices that can be the source) was selected by the user. In other words, the user interface 1000 can be "modal in nature, in which only menu items 155 corresponding to functions actually provided by the selected audio/visual programming source are displayed. Thus, in the case where the selected one of the sources 901 through 904 is in the form of an RF tuner without storage capability, menu items 155 (e.g., "fast forward" or "skip track") that are more appropriate for association with different audio/visual devices with storage capability would not be displayed because the given characteristics of the selected one of the sources 901 through 904 would be meaningless for them.

However, even with the benefit of such a "modal" feature, the user may wish to change which menu items 155 are displayed on the racetrack menu 150 to suit their own personal preferences. By way of example, when a given one of the sources 901 and 904 is selected, selecting a menu item that has been displayed as a "factory setting" may cause one or more menu items 155 that the user deems to be of little value to be displayed and/or may cause one or more menu items 155 that should be displayed (and that would otherwise be applicable to the functionality of the given one of the sources 901 and 904) to not be displayed. Additionally, one or more menu items that are "factory settings" may be displayed on the racetrack menu 150 upon the occurrence of and/or in response to an event other than the selection of sources 901-904 (e.g., upon a user making changes to various configuration settings using the user interface 1000, etc.).

In some variations of the user interface 1000, one or more submenus (e.g., submenus 151 and/or 152 of fig. 13a, 13b, or 14) may be enabled to be accessed by a user, and menu items that may be selected for display on the racetrack menu 150 (e.g., submenu items 156 displayed on one of the submenus 151 and/or 152 of fig. 13a, 13b, or 14) are displayed on the one or more submenus. These menu items displayed in the submenu may have a "toggle" feature in which they can be changed between a state displayed on the racetrack menu 150 and a state not displayed on the racetrack menu 150 by employing movement of a fingertip relative to the racetrack surface 250 to move the marker 160 over them and press against the racetrack surface 250 with a greater force, as previously described at length, to select them. Alternatively, the user interface 1000 may be provided in a custom mode, which is a mode that allows selection of menu items to be displayed, and which is separate and distinct from the mode of operation in which the user simply operates the user interface 1000 to select a source and an audio/visual program for playback. In such a customization mode, one or more submenus 151 and/or 152 are displayable to display menu items that may be selected for display on the runway menu 150 (presented as submenu items 156), and menu items 155 that may have been displayed on the runway menu 150 may be made selectable to remove them from being displayed on the runway menu 150 and add them to one of the submenus 151 or 152 accordingly (as submenu items 156), thus enabling them to be subsequently re-selected within the submenu for display on the runway menu 150.

An advantage of using submenus in one of the various ways depicted in fig. 13a-b and 14 is that the racetrack menu 150 continues to be displayed while those submenus are also displayed. Thus, there is a synchronized display of the menu items that can be selected by the user for display at the runway menu 150 and the runway menu 150 itself. This enables the user to be provided immediate feedback of the results of their selection by displaying how the appearance of the racetrack menu 150 changes immediately when the user makes their selection of which menu items 155 are to be displayed on the racetrack menu 150 and which menu items are to be removed therefrom.

As an alternative to using submenus that appear within the portion of the display area 950 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150 to enable customization, FIG. 15a depicts another method of enabling such customization, wherein the racetrack menu 150 is displayed alongside the selections of the available menu items 155, thereby again allowing the user to immediately see the results of their selections. The racetrack menu 150 is reduced in size relative to the display unit 120 so as not to occupy the periphery of the display area 950 provided by the display unit 120 and so as to be located alongside the plethora of menu items 155 that may be selected for display on the racetrack menu 150. More specifically, the racetrack menu 150 is reduced to occupy only about one-quarter of the display area 950, being located within a portion of the display area 950 (the upper right corner of the display area 950, as depicted), and accompanied by a plurality of menu items 155 located alongside the racetrack menu 150 of reduced size within another portion of the display area 950 (the upper left corner of the display area 950, as depicted). Having the racetrack menu 150 displayed alongside a plethora of menu items 155 that can be selected for display as depicted in FIG. 15a may entail the user having to operate manually-operable controls and/or select a particular one of the menu items 155 to place the user interface 1000 into a different customization mode. Such manually-operable controls may resemble different "custom" or "setup" buttons provided on a housing of an audio/visual device (e.g., one or both of audio/visual devices 100 or 900 of fig. 1, 5, or 8) implementing at least a portion of user interface 1000, or possibly on a remote control of such audio/visual device (e.g., one variation of handheld remote control 200 of one of fig. 1 or 7 b).

These menu items depicted next to the reduced size racetrack menu 150 have a "toggle" feature, where the markers 166 may be first moved to overlay them and then selected in a manner different from that described in fig. 7a in navigating the on-screen menu 170 by operating manually-operable controls outside the racetrack surface 225 (e.g., manually-operable controls implemented as completely separate from the touch sensor 220 and in the form of the navigation buttons 270a-d and selection button 280 depicted in fig. 7b or 8, or control surfaces in the form of the navigation surfaces 270a-d and equivalent selection surface 280 defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 shown in fig. 10 b), such that they change between a state of being displayed on the racetrack menu 150 and a state of not being displayed on the racetrack menu 150. Alternatively, such other manually-operable controls, and at least the runway surface 250 defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225, may be operated simultaneously in a manner that the other manually-operable controls may be used to select a plurality of menu items 155 to be added for display on the runway menu 150 while the runway surface 250 may be employed to select a plurality of menu items 155 to be removed from display on the runway menu 150. In this alternative, the user can operate the touch sensor 220 to interact with the racetrack surface 250 defined thereon to select one or more menu items 155 that have been displayed on the racetrack menu 150 for removal from display on the racetrack menu 150. By using a fingertip to move the marker 160 with respect to the racetrack menu 150 to one particular menu item 155 on the racetrack menu 150, and then pressing against the racetrack surface 255 with a relatively greater force, that particular menu item is removed from display on the racetrack menu 150 that is reduced in size in one portion of the display area 950, and added to the excess available menu items 155 in the other portion of the display area 950. The marker 166 is moved to overlay a desired one of the menu items 155 located within the other portion of the display area 950 by operating other manually-operable controls (e.g., the previously-mentioned manually-operable controls 270a-d and 280, whether implemented as fully independent manually-operable controls or as a control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225) and then selecting the desired one of the menu items 155 for removal from the menu items 155 displayed within the other portion of the display area 950 and for addition for display on the racetrack menu 150.

Regardless of the exact manner in which the various manually-operable controls are used to select menu items 155 for display or non-display on the runway menu 150, one or more markers 167 may be displayed among the reduced-size runway menu 150 and the overly selectable menu items 155, where within the runway menu 150 the menu items 155 covered by the markers 166 would be located if selected for display. Additionally, menu items 155 that are covered by a marker 166 (so that they can be selected for addition for display on the runway menu 150) are additionally displayed on, within, or otherwise adjacent to one or more markers 167, in the form of text (in any of a number of possible languages) that indicates the function associated with that menu item 155.

Additionally, along with menu items 155 available for display on the racetrack menu 150 and the reduced-size racetrack menu 150, the visual portion of the audio/visual programming provided by one of the sources 901 and 904 may be simultaneously displayed in a display area 990 surrounded by the reduced-size racetrack menu 150.

FIG. 15b depicts another method of enabling such user customization, wherein the racetrack menu 150 is displayed in its normal size and in its normal position with respect to the periphery of the display area 950, and wherein the overly available menu items 155 that can be selected for display on the racetrack menu 150 are located within the portion of the display area 950 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150. More specifically, with the user interface 1000 placed in the customization mode (again, selectable via a menu item or a different manually-operable control), the racetrack menu 150 is displayed in its normal size and position, with one of the edges 150a-d highlighted via the alternate marker 165 (or in some other manner), and with a scrollable list that can be selected for display on the one of the edges 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 that is highlighted. As depicted, menu items 155 within the scrollable list associated with the highlighted edge of the racetrack menu 150 are displayed in the form of text indicating the function associated with each of them, as opposed to symbols or other graphical indicators that are displayed that may provide a visually compact indication of the function(s) associated with each menu item 155 (and which are therefore preferably used when displaying menu items 155 on the racetrack menu 150). Next to each menu item 155 displayed within the scrollable list is a status indicator 159 (also otherwise referred to as a "radio box" or "checkbox" for those skilled in the art of designing graphical user interfaces) that displays one or the other of two displayable states, one indicating that its associated one menu item 155 is selected for display on the highlighted one of the edges 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150, and one indicating that its associated one menu item 155 is not selected for display as such.

Each menu item 155 displayed in the scrollable list is given a "toggle" feature via a variable status indicator, wherein the status indicators 159 may be changed between a state displayed on the highlighted edge of the racetrack menu 150 and a state not so displayed by operating manually-operable controls other than the racetrack surface 225 (e.g., the previously-mentioned manually-operable controls 270a-d and 280) to first move the marker 166 to overlay the associated one of the status indicators 159 and then select that status indicator 159 in a manner different from that described in fig. 7a for navigating the on-screen menu 170. Again, displaying the racetrack menu 150 next to a plethora of menu items 155 that can be selected for display as depicted in fig. 15b enables immediate feedback to be provided to the user, wherein the visual result of the user's selection can be immediately displayed when selecting one of the menu items 155 in the scrollable list to select whether it is displayed within the highlight edge of the racetrack menu 150 or not.

FIG. 15c depicts yet another method of enabling such user customization, wherein the racetrack menu 150 is not displayed, and the plethora of available menu items 155 that may be selected for display on the racetrack menu 150 are displayed in a plurality of columns corresponding to different edges 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150. More specifically, with the user interface 1000 placed in the customization mode, the display of the racetrack menu 150 and/or any audio/visual program selected by the user is replaced by the display of a side-by-side scrollable list of menu items 155 in the column corresponding to edge 150b, the column corresponding to edge 150a, and the columns corresponding to the two edges 150c and 150d (i.e., labeled "play controls" and "number input" and "other controls," respectively, as depicted).

As depicted, each menu item 155 within each scrollable list is displayed in text indicating the function associated with each of them. Also, next to each menu item 155 is displayed a status indicator 159 showing one or another status that the menu item 155 was selected to display within the edge 150a-d of the track menu 150 corresponding to the column in which the menu item 155 is displayed and a status that the menu item 155 was not selected for such display. In much the same way as described with respect to the menu items 155 displayed within the single scrollable column depicted in fig. 15b, each menu item 155 displayed within each scrollable list of each of the three columns depicted in fig. 15c is given a "toggle" feature via a variable status indicator 159, where they may be changed between displayed and non-displayed states by operating manually operable controls (e.g., manually operable controls 270a-d and 280) other than the racetrack surface 225 to first move the marker 166 to override the associated one status indicator 159 (or both one menu item 155 and its associated one status indicator 159) and then select it.

In a manner different from that discussed with respect to fig. 15a, as the marker 166 is moved to cover different menu items 155 in whichever scrollable bar, the covered one menu item 155 is additionally displayed at another location within the display area 950 to further assist the user in more easily realizing which menu item 155 is currently covered by the marker 166, such that operation of a manually-operable control (e.g., the manually-operable control or a separate selection button 180 implemented as part of a four-way rocker switch that also incorporates the manually-operable controls 270a-d, or as a control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225) will cause the particular menu item 155 to switch between being displayed and not being displayed, as just described. As depicted, one menu item 155 that is currently overlaid may be displayed in text and graphic symbols to ensure its quick and clear identification.

In a small variation of this method of enabling user customization, it is possible to make visible the results of the user selection by the user making a momentary touch to the touch-sensitive surface 225 at a location overlying a portion of the runway surface 250. The racetrack menu 150 is displayed as the user continues to touch a portion of the racetrack surface 250, and it may cease to be displayed when the user ceases to touch a portion of the racetrack surface 250. Alternatively, the user can toggle between the racetrack menu 150 being displayed and not being displayed by briefly touching a portion of the racetrack surface 250 in a manner similar to a "tap" on the racetrack surface 250. With the racetrack menu 150 so displayed, the display of the scrollable list depicted in FIG. 15c is reduced in size and displayed in the portion of the display area 950 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150. In addition, menu items 155 selected in the columns corresponding to edges 150c and 150d of the racetrack menu 150 (i.e., the columns labeled "other controls") are automatically positioned by the processing device 550 in one or the other of the edges 150c and 150d as caused by the control program 450. Given a typical ratio of available height to available width for a typical version of the display unit 120, this may be done to enable automatic optimization of the more limited available space within the two sides 150c and 150d, as they may be shorter than the sides 150a and 150 b.

Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims, and other claims to which the applicant may be entitled.

Claims (68)

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a racetrack menu having a ring shape;

a processing device; and

a storage having access to and storing sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to:

causing the racetrack menu to be visually displayed on the display element such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program can be visually displayed;

causing a plurality of menu items to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu;

causing a first marker to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu;

receiving an indication of movement of the first marker by a first manually-operable control being operated;

in response to an indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker, moving the first marker in relation to the racetrack menu and restricting movement of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu;

after the first manually-operable control operated to move the first marker about the runway, receiving an indication of the first manually-operable control operated to select a menu item of the plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker; and

in response to an indication of the operated first manually-operable control selecting a menu item in proximity to the first marker, causing the menu item to be selected, wherein causing the menu item to be selected comprises taking action that causes the audio/visual program to be selected for play.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first manually-operable control is a touch sensor having a touch-sensitive surface that is manually operable with a finger.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

causing the racetrack menu to be visually displayed in response to an indication of a digit touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the digit moving in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed; and

when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed, causing a command to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program relating to playing the audio/visual program in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger ceasing to touch the touch-sensitive surface.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

causing the racetrack menu to be visually displayed in response to an indication of a digit touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the digit remaining in contact with the touch-sensitive surface for at least a predetermined period of time when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed; and

when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed, causing a command to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program relating to playing the audio/visual program in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger ceasing to touch the touch-sensitive surface.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

causing a second marker to be visually displayed in proximity to the first marker in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface; and

in response to an indication that a finger is moved in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface, moving the second marker to a position relative to the first marker such that the position of the second marker relative to the first marker indicates the location of the finger touching the touch-sensitive surface more accurately than the position of the first marker within the racetrack menu.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a source interface operable to select a source from which to receive an audio/visual program, wherein the action taken to cause the audio/visual program to be selected for play is selected from a group of actions comprising:

selecting the source interface to enable the audio/visual program to be received from the source through the source interface;

transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to select the audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source; and

transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to cause the source to provide the audio/visual program to the device as part of playing the audio/visual program.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein communicating a command to the source through the source interface to select the audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source comprises causing the source to operate a radio frequency tuner to receive the audio/visual program.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein communicating a command to the source through the source interface to select the audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source comprises causing the source to begin playing the audio/visual program from a storage medium accessible to the source.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to move the first marker with respect to the racetrack menu in a manner that the first marker moves abruptly between near a first menu item of the plurality of menu items and near a second menu item of the plurality of menu items.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing device is further caused to operate a sound driver to audibly output a sound in each instance of the first marker rapidly moving between the proximity of the first and second menu items.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to change a size dimension of the first marker as it is caused to move the first marker about the racetrack menu between being proximate to a first menu item of the plurality of menu items and proximate to a second menu item of the plurality of menu items.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first marker has a form selected from the group consisting of:

an arrow indicator pointing to a menu item of the plurality of menu items;

a frame surrounding a menu item of the plurality of menu items; and

a change that causes an appearance of a menu item of the plurality of menu items to be different from an appearance of other menu items of the plurality of menu items.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the runway menu is a rectangular ring with four sides; and

the sequence of instructions executed by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

receiving an indication that the first manually-operable control is being operated; and

causing a second marker to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu in the vicinity of one of the four sides of the rectangular ring shape of the racetrack menu to visually indicate which of the four sides the first marker is currently located within.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

causing both the first display area and a second display area to be displayed on the display unit in a manner that both the first and second display areas are surrounded by the racetrack menu;

causing a first menu item associated with a visual portion of an audio/visual program being played in the first display area to be located in a first portion of the racetrack menu that is closer to the first display area than a second portion of the racetrack menu; and

causing a second menu item associated with a visual portion of the audio/visual program being played in the second display area to be located in the second portion of the racetrack menu.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first display area is positioned to cover a portion of the second display area.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first display area and the second display area are positioned adjacent to each other in such a way that the first and second display areas do not overlap each other.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

in response to receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control, causing the runway menu to be visually displayed on the display unit; and

causing the runway menu to cease to be visually displayed on the display unit in response to a predetermined period of time having elapsed without receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control.

18. A method, comprising:

visually displaying a racetrack menu having a ring shape on a display unit capable of visually displaying both the racetrack menu and a visual portion of an audio/visual program, such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program can be visually displayed;

visually displaying a plurality of menu items in the racetrack menu;

visually displaying a first marker in the racetrack menu;

receiving an indication of movement of the first marker by a first manually-operable control being operated;

in response to an indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker, moving the first marker in relation to the racetrack menu and restricting movement of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu;

after the first manually-operable control is operated to move the first marker in relation to the runway, receiving an indication of the operated first manually-operable control to select a menu item of the plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker; and

in response to an indication of the operated first manually-operable control selecting a menu item in proximity to the first marker, selecting the menu item, wherein selecting the menu item comprises taking action that causes the audio/visual program to be selected for play.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

visually displaying the racetrack menu in response to receiving an indication of a digit touching a touch-sensitive surface of the first manually-operable control followed by an indication of the digit moving in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed; and

transmitting a command to the source of the audio/visual program related to playing the audio/visual program in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger ceasing to touch the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed.

20. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

visually displaying the racetrack menu in response to receiving an indication that a digit touched a touch-sensitive surface of the first manually-operable control followed by the digit remaining in contact with the touch-sensitive surface for at least a predetermined period of time when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed; and

transmitting a command to the source of the audio/visual program related to playing the audio/visual program in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface followed by an indication of the finger ceasing to touch the touch-sensitive surface when the racetrack menu is not visually displayed.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein

The action taken to cause the audio/visual program to be selected for playback is selected from a group of actions consisting of:

selecting a source interface to enable receipt of the audio/visual program from a source of the audio/visual program through the source interface;

transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to select the audio/visual program from a plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source; and

transmitting a command to the source through the source interface to cause the source to provide the audio/visual program to the device as part of playing the audio/visual program.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein communicating a command to the source through the source interface to select the audio/visual program from the plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source comprises causing the source to operate a radio frequency tuner to receive the audio/visual program.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein communicating a command to the source through the source interface to select the audio/visual program from the plurality of audio/visual programs available from the source comprises causing the source to begin playing the audio/visual program from a storage medium accessible to the source.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising moving the first marker with respect to the racetrack menu in a manner that the first marker abruptly moves between near a first menu item of the plurality of menu items and near a second menu item of the plurality of menu items.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising operating a sound driver to audibly output a sound in each instance of the first marker making an abrupt movement between the vicinities of the first and second menu items.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein the racetrack menu is a rectangular ring having four sides; and further comprising:

receiving an indication that the first manually-operable control is being operated; and

causing a second marker to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu in the vicinity of one of the four sides of the rectangular ring shape of the racetrack menu to visually indicate which of the four sides the first marker is currently located within.

27. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

displaying both the first display area and the second display on the display unit in such a manner that both the first and second display areas are surrounded by the racetrack menu;

displaying a first menu item in a first portion of the racetrack menu that is closer to the first display area than a second portion of the racetrack menu if the first menu item is associated with a visual portion of an audio/visual program playing in the first display area; and

displaying a second menu item in a second portion of the racetrack menu where the second menu item is associated with a visual portion of an audio/visual program playing in the second display region.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising positioning the first display area to overlay a portion of a second display area.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising positioning the first display area and the second display area adjacent to each other in a manner that the first and second display areas do not overlap each other.

30. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

visually displaying the racetrack menu on the display unit in response to receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control; and is

Ceasing to visually display the racetrack menu on the display unit in response to a predetermined period of time having elapsed without receiving any indication of any manual operation of the first manually-operable control.

31. An apparatus, comprising:

a display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a racetrack menu having a ring shape;

a processing device; and the number of the first and second groups,

storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to:

causing the racetrack menu to be visually displayed on the display element such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program can be visually displayed;

causing a first plurality of menu items to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu;

causing a first marker to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu;

in response to an indication of an operated manually-operable control to move the first marker, moving the first marker in relation to the racetrack menu and restricting movement of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu; and

in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, causing the menu item to be selected, wherein causing the menu item to be selected further comprises causing the processing device to:

causing a sub-menu to be visually displayed within the first display area;

causing a second plurality of menu items to be visually displayed in the submenu; and

causing the first indicia to be displayed within the submenu.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the sub-menu is displayed within the first display area such that the sub-menu overlays the visual portion of the audio/visual program when the visual portion of the audio/visual program is displayed within the first display area on the display unit.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the racetrack menu and the submenu together surround a second display area occupying a subset of the first display area, and wherein the visual portion of the audio/visual program is displayed within the second display area such that no portion of the racetrack menu or the submenu overlaps the visual portion of the audio/visual program when the audio/visual program is displayed on the display element.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the sub-menu is a ring shape having four sides corresponding to four sides of the ring shape of the racetrack menu.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the submenu is positioned relative to the racetrack menu such that the ring of submenus is positioned concentrically within the ring of the racetrack menu.

36. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the submenu is in a spiral configuration having four sides corresponding to and positioned adjacent to four sides of the ring shape of the racetrack menu, and having a fifth side corresponding to and positioned adjacent to one of the four sides of the submenu, such that the one of the four sides of the submenu is between the fifth side and a portion of the racetrack menu.

37. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the manually-operable control is a touch sensor having a touch-sensitive surface that is manually operable with a finger.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising the manually-operable control.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

causing a second marker to be visually displayed in proximity to a first marker when the first marker is located within one of the racetrack menu and the submenu and in response to an indication of a finger touching the touch-sensitive surface; and

in response to an indication of a digit moving in a wiping motion with respect to the touch-sensitive surface, causing the second indicia to move to a position relative to the first indicia such that the position of the second indicia relative to the first indicia is more accurately indicative of the position of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface than the position of the first indicia.

40. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to:

in response to receiving an indication of movement of the manually-operable control that is operated to move the first marker, cause the first marker to move with respect to the submenu and to be restricted from moving within the submenu; and

in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a second menu item of the second plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, selecting the second menu item.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein in response to receiving an indication of a selection of the second menu item by the manually-operable control being operated, the processing device changes configuration settings that affect how the audio/visual program may be played.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to move the first marker with respect to the submenu in a manner that the first marker moves abruptly between near one of the second plurality of menu items and near another of the second plurality of menu items.

43. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the processing device is further caused to operate a sound driver to audibly output a sound in each instance of the first marker making an abrupt movement between the vicinity of the one and the other menu items.

44. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to cause display of a second marker within at least the submenu and proximate to the first menu item of the racetrack menu to indicate a position within the submenu to which the first marker may be moved within the submenu to enable the first marker to be moved back to the racetrack menu.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the processing device is further caused to, in response to receiving an indication of a selection of the second marker by the manually-operable control being operated, cause the sub-menu to cease to be displayed and cause the first marker to be moved to a position within the racetrack menu.

46. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processor to cause the submenu to cease being displayed and the first marker to be moved to a location within the racetrack menu in response to a predetermined period of time elapsing without receiving any indication of the manually-operable control being operated.

47. A method, comprising:

visually displaying a racetrack menu having a ring shape on a display unit capable of visually displaying both the racetrack menu and a visual portion of an audio/visual program such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program can be visually displayed;

visually displaying a first plurality of menu items in the racetrack menu;

visually displaying a first marker in the racetrack menu;

in response to receiving an indication of a manually-operable control associated with the racetrack menu being operated to move the first marker, moving the first marker with respect to the racetrack menu and restricting movement of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu; and

in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, selecting the first menu item, wherein selecting the first menu item comprises:

visually displaying a sub-menu within the first display area;

visually displaying a second plurality of menu items in the submenu; and

visually displaying a first marker within the sub-menu.

48. The method of claim 47, further comprising displaying the visual portion of the audio/visual program in the first display area and displaying the submenu such that the submenu overlays the first display area.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein the racetrack menu and the submenu together surround a second display area occupying a subset of the first display area, the method comprising displaying the visual portion of the audio/visual program within the second display area such that no portion of the racetrack menu or the submenu overlays the visual portion of the audio/visual program.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the submenu is ring shaped having four sides corresponding to the four sides of the ring shape of the racetrack menu.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein visually displaying the submenu within the first display area comprises positioning the submenu relative to the racetrack menu such that an annulus of the submenu is positioned concentrically within an annulus of the racetrack menu.

52. The method of claim 47, wherein the submenu is in a spiral configuration having four sides corresponding to and positioned adjacent to four sides of the racetrack menu's annular shape, and having a fifth side corresponding to and positioned adjacent to one of the four sides of the submenu, such that the one of the four sides of the submenu is between the fifth side and a portion of the racetrack menu.

53. The method of claim 47, further comprising:

in response to receiving an indication of movement of the first marker by the manually-operable control being operated, moving the first marker in relation to the submenu and restricting movement of the first marker from remaining within the submenu; and

in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select a second menu item of the second plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, selecting the second menu item.

54. The method of claim 53, further comprising changing configuration settings affecting how the audio/visual program may be played in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select the second menu item.

55. The method of claim 53, further comprising moving the first marker with respect to the submenu in a manner that the first marker abruptly moves between about one of the second plurality of menu items and about another of the second plurality of menu items.

56. The method of claim 47, wherein displaying the submenu within the first display area further comprises displaying a second marker within at least the submenu and proximate to the first menu item of the racetrack menu to indicate a position within the submenu to which the first marker may be moved within the submenu to enable the first marker to be moved back to the racetrack menu.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising ceasing to display the submenu and moving the first marker to a position within the racetrack menu in response to receiving an indication of the manually-operable control being operated to select the second marker.

58. The method of claim 47, further comprising ceasing to display the submenu and moving the first marker to a position within the racetrack menu in response to a predetermined period of time elapsing without receiving any indication of the manually-operable control being operated.

59. An apparatus, comprising:

a display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a racetrack menu having a ring shape;

a processing device; and

storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to:

causing a first plurality of menu items to be visually displayed within a first portion of the display unit;

causing a first indicia to be visually displayed on the first portion of the display unit; and

in response to receiving an indication of a first manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, causing the first menu item to become displayable on the racetrack menu.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the causing the first menu item to be displayable in the racetrack menu comprises causing the processing device to further display the first menu item on the racetrack menu as one of a second plurality of menu items displayed on the racetrack menu when the sequence of instructions further causes the processing device to display the racetrack menu on the display unit.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the sequence of instructions further cause the processing device to display the racetrack menu in a second portion of the display element adjacent to the first portion of the display element and to simultaneously display the first plurality of menu items in the first portion.

62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein:

the second portion surrounds the first portion; and

displaying the first plurality of menu items in the first portion, displaying the racetrack menu in the second portion so as to surround the first plurality of menu items displayed in the first portion.

63. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein:

the racetrack menu has a geometry that includes a plurality of edges including a first edge and a second edge;

causing the processing device to display the first plurality of menu items divided among a plurality of scrollable bars comprising menu items of a first column and a second column;

the first column corresponds to the first edge and the second column corresponds to the second edge;

displaying the first menu item within the first column; and

in response to receiving an indication of a selection of the first menu item by the manually-operable control being operated, the sequence of instructions further cause the processing device to cause the first menu item to become displayable within a first edge of the racetrack menu.

64. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein:

the racetrack menu has a geometry that includes a plurality of edges including a first edge, a second edge, and a third edge;

causing the processing device to display the first plurality of menu items divided among a plurality of scrollable bars comprising menu items of a first column and a second column;

the first column corresponds to the first edge;

the second column corresponds to the second and third sides;

displaying the first menu item within the second column; and

in response to receiving an indication of a selection of the first menu item by the manually-operable control being operated, the sequence of instructions further cause the processing device to cause the first menu item to become displayable within the second edge in response to the number of menu items of the second plurality displayed on the second edge being less than the number of menu items of the second plurality displayed on the third edge, thereby balancing the number of menu items displayed on the second and third edges.

65. A method, comprising:

visually displaying a first plurality of menu items within a first portion of a display unit, the display unit capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a user interface including a menu;

visually displaying a first marker between the first plurality of menu items and located near one of the first plurality of menu items;

visually displaying the menu within a second portion of the display unit in synchronization with visually displaying the first plurality of menu items, wherein the second portion is adjacent to the first portion;

visually displaying a second plurality of menu items within the menu;

visually displaying a second marker between the second plurality of menu items and located near one of the second plurality of menu items; and

in response to receiving an indication of a first manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, displaying the first menu item on the menu as part of the second plurality of menu items.

66. The method of claim 65, further comprising in response to again receiving an indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to select the first one of the first plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the first marker, wherein the first menu item is displayed on the menu as one of the second plurality of menu items, the first menu item being removed from display on the menu as one of the second plurality of menu items.

67. The method of claim 65, further comprising removing the second menu item from display on the menu in response to receiving an indication of the operated second manually-operable control selecting the second menu item of the second plurality of menu items that is in proximity to the second marker.

68. The method of claim 67, further comprising, in response to receiving an indication of the second manually-operable control being operated to select the second one of the second plurality of menu items, displaying the second menu item within the first portion as one of the first plurality of menu items.