This invention relates to the field of data communications and control and in particular to the field of handheld and mobile control devices.
The use of handheld electronic devices for controlling other devices is becoming increasingly common. Consumer electronic devices, such as televisions and stereos, are controlled with remote control devices, and xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d (user-programmable) remote controllers are available for controlling multiple consumer electronic devices. Each of these devices typically has a user interface that is optimized for the tasks that the device is expected to perform. For example, a television remote control has channel and volume controls; a tape deck remote control has fast-forward, play, record, and rewind controls; and so on. The aforementioned xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d controller, however, contains a myriad assortment of controls to facilitate the control of a variety of devices.
Because a universal controller is designed to operate many varied devices, it is often difficult to use because of the large number of control buttons or switches. Often, a user may only have two or three of the possible devices that the universal controller can control, and many of the buttons on the universal controller are unused. In like manner, the user may have many of the devices that the universal controller may control, but they may not necessarily be located in a common area within the sphere of control of the universal controller.
The use of handheld electronic devices for managing information is also becoming increasingly common. Portable xe2x80x9cpalm-topxe2x80x9d information processing devices are commonly used to organize, record, and present data and information. For example, electronic xe2x80x9cday-timersxe2x80x9d are used to record scheduled appointments and events in a calendar format, and to operate as an alarm clock to remind the user of these appointments and events as their schedule time arrives. Electronic notepads are used to record and present telephone lists, shopping lists, notes, recipes, and so on. Personal navigation devices are available that illustrate the location of the device on a presentation of a street map.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,303 relates to configuring a time- and location- based computing infrastructure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,303 addresses the problem of how to pro-actively remind people of tasks to do. A system is disclosed that uses unique radio frequency (RF) beacons in key locations, for example, one in a home, another beacon in an office, yet another beacon in a car, and so on, to notify a portable information processing device of its proximity to each location. The information processing device is programmed to supply location-dependent reminder messages in dependence upon the receipt of each recognized RF beacon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,552, 806 relates to an apparatus for positioning selectable function icons on a display. Again, the function icons displayed are determined by a locale dependent radio signal indicating, e.g., the home locale, the work locale or a mobile locale. In the home locale, for example, the user him/herself has to navigate through the hierarchy of icons available in this specific locale.
Although the prior art devices mentioned above provide a mechanism to select locale dependent icons, it does not solve the problem mentioned above, where the user has to either juggle a (too large) number of remotes or has to navigate through a hierarchy of control layers, all associated with, e.g., the home environment or the office environment, in order to find the appropriate control level. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a device user interface that is optimized, or customized, for the function that the device is intended to perform within the home, or within the office. It is a further object of this invention to maximize the functions that the device may perform, thereby providing maximal utility to a user with a minium of user-interaction.
These object and others are achieved by determining the control functionality of a user interface based upon the context within which the device is being used. Context parameters are associated with location relative to the home environment, and a device in accordance with this invention provides a control interface that is modified and optimized in dependence upon location and other parameters. The interface includes the presentation of context sensitive information and the communication of context sensitive user commands and information via the interface. The location determination is effected using any number of commonly available techniques, such as infrared sensors and active badges for relative positioning, conventional absolute positioning devices such as LORAN and GPS, as well as the beacon sensing devices disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,303, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In a preferred embodiment, the device communicates with a remote information source that provides the context sensitive control information in dependence upon a location parameter that is communicated from the device. The remote information source may be a home network server, an Internet server, a public service network, or other communication network.