Method and Apparatus for Voice-Controlled Graphical User Interface Pointing Device

Abstract

A pointing device is provided for use in computing devices comprising a printed circuit board, a tracking device adapted to generate a tracking signal in response to a user vocal input and relay the tracking signal to the printed circuit board, and a selection device adapted to generate a selection signal in response to a user manipulation and relay the selection signal to the printed circuit board.

1 . A pointing device for use in computing devices comprising: 
 a printed circuit board;    a tracking device adapted to generate a tracking signal in response to a user vocal input and relay the tracking signal to the printed circuit board; and    a selection device adapted to generate a selection signal in response to a user manipulation and relay the selection signal to the printed circuit board.    
   
   
       2 . The pointing device of  claim 1 , wherein the tracking device comprises: 
 at least one sensor adapted to sense and record a user's vocal cord movements; and    at least one delimiter adapted to filter extraneous audible input to the at least one sensor.    
   
   
       3 . The pointing device of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one delimiter is adapted to activate at least one of start or stop sensor recording.  
   
   
       4 . The pointing device of  claim 2 , wherein the tracking device further comprises: 
 a voice box converter coupled to the at least one sensor and adapted to convert the vocal cord movements to a text output; and    a keyword database coupled to the voice box converter and adapted to index the text output received from the voice box converter.    
   
   
       5 . The pointing device of  claim 4 , wherein the keyword database further comprises: 
 a desktop icon database adapted to map desktop icon keywords to desktop screen positions; and    a menu search tree adapted to map menu keywords to desktop screen positions.    
   
   
       6 . The pointing device of  claim 5 , wherein the desktop icon database comprises a hash table.  
   
   
       7 . The pointing device of  claim 1 , wherein the selection device is adapted to relay a default selection signal to the printed circuit board in the event that there is no selection signal generated by a user following the generation of a tracking signal.  
   
   
       8 . A pointing device for use in computing devices comprising: 
 a printed circuit board;    a tracking device adapted to generate a tracking signal in response to a user's vocal input and relay said signal to the printed circuit board; and    a selection device adapted to generate a selection signal in response to a user manipulation and relay the selection signal to the printed circuit board,    wherein the tracking device comprises: 
 at least one sensor adapted to sense and record a user's vocal cord movements;  
 at least one delimiter adapted to filter extraneous audible input to the at least one sensor;  
 a voice box converter coupled to the at least one sensor and adapted to convert the vocal cord movements to a text output; and  
 a keyword database coupled to the voice box converter and adapted to index the text output received from the voice box converter.  
   
   
   
       9 . A pointing device for use in computing devices comprising: 
 a printed circuit board;    means for converting a user's vocal input into a tracking signal and relaying the tracking signal to the printed circuit board; and    means for generating a selection signal and relaying the selection signal to the printed circuit board.    
   
   
       10 . A computer system comprising: 
 a processor;    a printed circuit board adapted to send and receive pointer location and command information to and from the processor;    a tracking device adapted to generate a tracking signal in response to a user's vocal input and relay said signal to the printed circuit board; and    a selection device adapted to generate a selection signal in response to a user manipulation and relay the selection signal to the printed circuit board.