Computer system having multi-device input system

Claim 1

A computer system having a multi-device input system, said computer system comprising: a display unit; a computer including a regular processor for carrying out regular processing and a menu selector for carrying out menu selection processing with respect to display contents on a display screen of said display unit; a coordinate detecting device having a coordinate detectable area, the coordinate detecting device including a menu display area for displaying a plurality of menu items, the coordinate detecting device being capable of displaying the menu items simultaneously with detecting coordinate information of at least two position pointing devices operated on said coordinate detectable area, the coordinate detecting device responding to the position pointing devices to supply coordinate information about the position pointing devices to said computer; at least one, but not all, of said position pointing devices being exclusively used for selecting menu items from the menu item display area; and a position pointing device identifier for identifying the type of said position pointing device; the coordinate information derived from said coordinate detecting device being sent to said menu selector in response to said position pointing device identifier determining that the position pointing device operated in said coordinate detectable area is a position pointing device exclusively used for menu item selection, the coordinate information derived from said coordinate detecting device being sent to said regular processor in response to said position pointing device identifier determining that it is a position pointing device other than the position pointing device used exclusively for menu selection.

Claim 7

A method of performing computer assisted design operations with a coordinate detector superimposed with a menu containing plural symbols, the coordinate detector being coupled with a display via a computer, comprising the steps of simultaneously grasping with first and second hands first and second position pointing devices so the first and second pointing devices are proximate the coordinate detector, coupling energy between the first and second pointing devices and the coordinate detector so signals indicative of the identities and positions of the first and second pointing devices are supplied to the computer, the computer responding to the identity and positions of the first pointing device to activate the display so the display displays symbols corresponding to symbols pointed to by the first pointing device, the computer responding to the signals indicative of the identity and positions of the second pointing device to activate the display so the display displays lines corresponding to locations pointed to by the second pointing device on the coordinate detector.

Claim 8

A method of performing computer assisted design operations with a coordinate detector superimposed with a menu containing plural symbols, the coordinate detector being coupled with a display via a computer, comprising the steps of simultaneously grasping with first and second hands first and second position pointing devices so the first and second pointing devices are proximate the coordinate detector, coupling energy between the first and second pointing devices and the coordinate detector so signals indicative of the identities and positions of the first and second pointing devices are supplied to the computer, the computer responding to the identity and positions of the first pointing device to activate the display so the display displays symbols corresponding to symbols pointed to by the first pointing device, the computer responding to the signals indicative of the identity and positions of the second pointing device to activate the display so the display displays lines corresponding to locations pointed to by the second pointing device on the coordinate detector.

Claim 12

A method of performing computer aided design operations with a coordinate detector superimposed with a menu containing plural symbols, the coordinate detector being coupled with a display via a computer, comprising the steps of supplying energy to first and second areas of the position detector under the respective control of first and second hands of an operator so signals indicative of the identity of the control by the first and second hands and positions of the areas pointed to under the control of the first and second hands are supplied to the computer, the computer responding to the identity of the control provided by the first hand and the positions of the first area to activate the display so the display displays symbols corresponding to symbols pointed to under the control of the first hand, the computer responding to the identity of the control provided by the second hand and the positions of the second area to activate the display so the display displays lines corresponding to lines drawn under the control of the second hand.

Claim 13

A method of performing computer aided design operations with a coordinate detector superimposed with a menu containing plural symbols, the coordinate detector being coupled with a display via a computer, comprising the steps of supplying energy to first and second areas of the position detector under the respective control of first and second hands of an operator so signals indicative of the identity of the control by the first and second hands and positions of the areas pointed to under the control of the first and second hands are supplied to the computer, the computer responding to the identity of the control provided by the first hand and the positions of the first area to activate the display so the display displays symbols corresponding to symbols pointed to under the control of the first hand, the computer responding to the identity of the control provided by the second hand and the positions of the second area to activate the display so the display displays lines corresponding to lines drawn under the control of the second hand.