Configurable representation of a virtual button on a game controller touch screen

Abstract

A method, a system and an apparatus of a configurable representation of a virtual button on a game controller touch screen are disclosed. In one aspect, a graphical representation of a virtual control button of a video game is rendered with a game controller processor in a region of a touch screen of a game controller. The rendering of the virtual control button is executed according to a layout command from a video game system. The graphical representation of the virtual control button is associated with another region of the touch screen. A signal that includes the association of the other region with the graphical representation of the virtual control button is communicated to the video game system. The video game system generates a layout update command.

1 . A method comprising:
 rendering, with a game controller processor, a representation of a virtual control button in a region of a touch screen of a game controller according to a layout command from a video game system;   associating the representation of the virtual control button with an other region of the touch screen;   communicating a signal comprising an association of the other region with the representation of the virtual control button to the video game system; and   converting the signal to a processor readable code to cause the video game system to generate a layout update command.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 generating the layout update command; 
 communicating the layout update command to the game controller processor; and 
 rendering, with the game controller processor, the representation of the virtual control button in the other region according to the layout update command. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 providing at least one of a graphical representation and a haptic representation of the virtual control button in the other region. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 assigning a value to the virtual control button according to at least one of a particular mode of the video game system, a skill level of a particular video game player and a particular video game environment. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising:
 modifying at least one of a shape of the representation of the virtual control button and a size of the representation of the virtual control button. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the representation of the virtual control button is associated with the other region of the touch screen during a runtime mode of the video game system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein associating the other region of the touch screen with a control element further comprises:
 recognizing a tactile force in the region of the touch screen; and   detecting a motion of the tactile force of the other region of the touch screen.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising:
 associating an other representation of an other virtual control button with the other region. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a machine is caused to perform the method of  claim 1  when a set of instructions in a form of a machine-readable medium is executed by the machine. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 a video game system;   a game controller communicatively coupled with the video game system;   a game controller processor to render a representation of a virtual control button in a region of a touch screen of the game controller according to a layout command from the video game system, to detect an association of the representation of the virtual control button with an area outside the region of the touch screen, and to generate a signal comprising the association of the representation of the virtual control button with the area outside the region;   the touch screen of the game controller to display the representation of the virtual control button; and   a virtual control button module of the video game system to analyze the signal rendered by the game controller processor, and to generate a layout update command to cause the game controller processor to an other representation of the virtual control button in the area outside the region.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the game controller processor renders the representation of the virtual control button in the area outside the region according to the layout update command. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the virtual control button module assigns a value to the virtual control button according to at least one of a particular mode of a video game, a particular skill level of a video game player and a particular video game environment. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the virtual control button module provides a haptic indication of the virtual control button. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the virtual control module modifies at least one of a shape of the representation of the virtual control button and a size of the representation of the virtual control button on the touch screen during a runtime mode of the video game. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the virtual control button modules recognizes a drag and drop operation as the association of the representation of the virtual control button with the area outside the region. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the virtual control module associates the representation of the virtual control button with the area outside the region during runtime mode of the video game. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the virtual control button module modifies the at least one of the shape of the representation of the virtual control button and the size of the representation of the virtual control button according to a pre-defined gesture on the touch screen. 
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 rendering, with a processor of a game controller, a virtual button to display on a specified location of a touch screen of the game controller according to a layout command from a video game system;   determining an association of the virtual button with an other location of the touch screen; and   generating a signal comprising the association of the virtual button with the other location of the touch screen, wherein the signal causes the video game system to communicate a layout update command to the game controller.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  further comprising:
 configuring the virtual button in the other location of the touch screen according to the layout update command; and 
 rendering, with the processor of the game controller, a haptic indication of the virtual button on the specified location of the touch screen. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising:
 rendering, with the processor of the game controller, a graphical indication of the virtual button on the specified location of the touch screen.