Apparatus for associating physical characteristics with commands

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a biometric accessory having a controller to detect at least one of navigation information and biometric information associated with a user of the accessory, and transmit at least one of the navigation information and biometric information to a software application, wherein an input function of the accessory which is correlated with at least one of the navigation information and the biometric information is assigned to an action of a plurality of associable actions by the software application, wherein a stimulation of the input function is detected by the software application, wherein the action is retrieved by the software application based on the stimulation being detected, and wherein the retrieved associable action is transmitted by the software application to an operating system. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

1 . A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions to:
 present in a graphical user interface a plurality of associable actions and a biometric sensing accessory, wherein a fingerprint is detectable by the biometric sensing accessory and the fingerprint is correlated to an input function associated with the biometric sensing accessory;   associate one of the plurality of associable actions with the input function;   detect a stimulation of the input function by monitoring the biometric sensing accessory, wherein the stimulation of the input function occurs based on a detection of the fingerprint;   retrieve the action associated with the input function; and   transmit the action to an operating system.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the fingerprint is a plurality of fingerprints, and wherein each fingerprint or a combination of fingerprints of the plurality of fingerprints is correlated to a different input function. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , comprising computer instructions to associate other associable actions of the plurality of associable actions with the different input functions. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the biometric sensing accessory is further configured to detect at least one of an eye movement, a heart rate, a blood pressure, and a body movement. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 4 , comprising computer instructions to associate an associable action of the plurality of associable actions to an input function correlated with at least one of the detected eye movement, heart rate, blood pressure, and body movement. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 5 , comprising computer instructions to detect a stimulation of the input function correlated with at least one of the eye movement, heart rate, blood pressure, and body movement, wherein the stimulation of the input function occurs based on a detection of at least one of the eye movement, heart rate, blood pressure, and body movement. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , comprising computer instructions to authenticate into a software application based on the detection of the fingerprint. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 7 , wherein the operating system provides a signal representative of the action to the software application. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 7 , wherein the software application is a gaming application which invokes a gaming feature based on the signal received from the operating system. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein at least a portion the plurality of associable actions are associated with one or more actions that control the gaming application. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operating system launches a software application based on the action. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , comprising computer instructions to associate associable actions of the plurality of associable actions to input functions of a plurality of other accessories, wherein the plurality of other accessories comprise at least one of a keyboard, a gaming pad, a mouse, a gaming console controller, a joystick, a microphone, and a headset with a microphone. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , comprising computer instructions to store the association of the action with the input function. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , comprising computer instructions to store the input function correlated with the fingerprint and the associated action in a profile. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , comprising computer instructions to associate the profile to at least one software application. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , comprising computer instructions to associate a sequence of stimulations of the input function to a macro. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the macro corresponds to at least one of the plurality of associable actions. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , comprising computer instructions to calculate and present a statistical frequency of stimulation of the input function correlated with the fingerprint. 
     
     
         19 . An biometric accessory, comprising a controller to:
 detect at least one of navigation information and biometric information associated with a user of the accessory; and   transmit at least one of the navigation information and biometric information to a software application, wherein an input function of the accessory which is correlated with at least one of the navigation information and the biometric information is assigned to an action of a plurality of associable actions by the software application, wherein a stimulation of the input function is detected by the software application, wherein the action is retrieved by the software application based on the stimulation being detected, and wherein the retrieved associable action is transmitted by the software application to an operating system.   
     
     
         20 . The accessory of  claim 19 , wherein the biometric information comprises at least one among a fingerprint, an eye movement, a blood pressure, a body movement, and a heart rate. 
     
     
         21 . The accessory of  claim 19 , comprising an integrated display configured to present a graphical user interface which displays the plurality of associable actions and a plurality of accessories of distinct operational types, wherein the plurality of accessories are for interacting with a software application operable in a computer system. 
     
     
         22 . The accessory of  claim 19 , wherein the biometric information is a plurality of physical characteristics, and wherein each physical characteristic or a combination of physical characteristics of the plurality of physical characteristics is correlated to a different input function of the accessory. 
     
     
         23 . The accessory of  claim 22 , wherein the software application associates actions of the plurality of associable actions with the different input functions. 
     
     
         24 . The accessory of  claim 22 , wherein the operating system authenticates into a gaming application based on the detection of the physical characteristic. 
     
     
         25 . The accessory of  claim 24 , wherein the operating system transmits the assigned action or an aspect thereof to the gaming application. 
     
     
         26 . The accessory of  claim 24 , wherein the stimulation of the input function correlated with the physical characteristic is utilized to manipulate in-game entities of the gaming application. 
     
     
         27 . A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions to:
 receive from a software application operably coupled to a biometric sensing accessory an action associated with an input function of the biometric sensing accessory, wherein the input function is correlated to at least one of navigation information and biometric information detected by the biometric sensing accessory, wherein a stimulation of the input function is detected by the software application, and wherein the action is retrieved by the software application when the stimulation is detected; and   perform the received action.   
     
     
         28 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 27 , wherein the computer instructions represent a gaming application. 
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 27 , wherein the physical characteristic comprises at least one of a fingerprint, an eye movement, a body movement, a heart rate, and a blood pressure. 
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 27 , comprising authenticating a user into the gaming application based on the physical characteristic. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 27 , wherein the action is associated with one or more actions that control the gaming application. 
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 27 , wherein the software application is an operating system.