Audio/visual device graphical user interface

Abstract

A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates one or both of a touch sensor having a touch surface on which is defined a racetrack surface having a ring shape and a display element on which is displayed a racetrack menu also having a ring shape, and where the user interface incorporates both, the ring shapes of the racetrack surface and the racetrack menu are structured to generally correspond such that the position of a marker on the racetrack menu is caused to correspond to the position at which a digit of a user's hand touches the racetrack surface.

1 . An apparatus capable of causing a visual portion of an audio/visual program received from one of a plurality of input sources to be displayed on a display element, the apparatus comprising:
 a remote control comprising:
 a casing; 
 a first manually-operable control disposed on the casing, wherein the first manually-operable control is associated with a first menu having a first plurality of menu items, and wherein the first manually-operable control is operable to enable selection of one menu item of the first plurality of menu items; and 
 a second manually-operable control disposed on the casing, wherein the second manually-operable control is associated with a second menu having a second plurality of menu items, and wherein the second manually-operable control is operable to enable selection of one menu item of the second plurality of menu items; 
   a processing device able to receive indications from the remote control of either of the first or second manually-operable controls being operated, and able to cause the visual portion to be displayed on the display element; and   a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions that when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to cause the first menu to be displayed on the display element and cause the second menu to be displayed on the display element in a manner in which the arrangement of the first and second menus corresponds to the arrangement of the first and second manually-operable controls as disposed on the casing.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second manually-operable controls is configured to select one of the plurality of input sources, and wherein the menu items presented in the at least one of the first and second menus depend upon the source selected. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second manually-operable controls comprises a touch sensor comprising a touch-sensitive surface. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the touch-sensitive surface of the first control comprises a rectangular shape. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second manually-operable controls comprises a non-touch sensitive manually-operable control. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the non-touch sensitive manually-operable control comprises a plurality of navigation controls and a selection control. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the non-touch sensitive manually-operable control comprises a track ball device. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first manually-operable control comprises a touch sensor comprising a touch-sensitive surface on which the processing device is caused to define a plurality of navigation surfaces. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second plurality of menu items comprises selectable text. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first manually-operable control comprises a touch sensor comprising a touch-sensitive surface, and wherein the processing device causes the first menu to be displayed on the display element along with the visual portion of the audio/visual program in response to the touch sensor detecting a touch of the touch-sensitive surface. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the processing device causes the visual portion to be re-sized to fit in a portion of the display element other than a portion occupied by the first menu. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the processing device causes the first menu to overlie at least a portion of the visual portion being presented on the display element. 
     
     
         13 . An apparatus capable of causing a visual portion of an audio/visual program received from one of a plurality of sources to be displayed on a display element, the apparatus comprising:
 a remote control comprising:
 a casing separate from another casing on which the display element is disposed; and 
 a touch sensor disposed on the casing, the touch sensor having a manually-operable touch-sensitive surface; 
   a processing device able to receiving indications from the remote control of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor being operated, and able to cause the visual portion to be played on the display element; and   a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions that when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to:
 define a first surface encompassing a first portion of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor; 
 cause a first menu having a first plurality of menu items to be displayed on the display element; 
 associate the first surface with the first menu to enable the first surface to be operated to select one menu item of the first plurality of menu items; 
 define a second surface encompassing a second portion of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor; 
 cause a second menu having a second plurality of menu items to be displayed on the display element in a manner in which the arrangement of the first and second menus corresponds to the arrangement of the first and second surfaces as defined on the touch-sensitive surface; and 
 associate the second surface with the second menu to enable the second surface to be operated to select one menu item of the second plurality of menu items. 
   
     
     
         14 . An apparatus capable of causing a visual portion of an audio/visual program received from one of a plurality of sources to be displayed on a display element, the apparatus comprising:
 a remote control comprising:
 a casing; and 
 a first manually-operable control disposed on the casing, wherein the first manually-operable control is associated with a first menu having a first plurality of menu items, and wherein the first manually-operable control is operable to enable selection of one menu item of the first plurality of menu items; 
   a processing device able to receive indications from the remote control of the first manually-operable control being operated, and able to cause the visual portion to be played on the display element; and   a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions that when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to:
 cause the visual portion of the audio/visual program to be displayed on the display element; and 
 cause the first menu to be displayed on the display element in a manner in which the first menu is positioned on the display element about at least a portion of the periphery of the display element, and in a manner in which the shape of the first menu corresponds to the shape of the first manually-operable control as disposed on the casing. 
   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the sequence of instructions further causes the processing device to cause the first menu to be displayed on the display element in a manner in which the first menu is positioned on the display element about at least a portion of the periphery of where the visual portion is displayed on the display element so as to at least partially surround the visual portion. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , further comprising a second manually-operable control disposed on the casing, wherein the second manually-operable control is associated with a second menu having a second plurality of menu items, and wherein the second manually-operable control is operable to enable selection of one menu item of the second plurality of menu items. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the first and second manually-operable control is configured to select one of the plurality of input sources, and wherein the menu items presented in the at least one of the first and second menus depends upon the source selected. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the first and second manually-operable controls comprises a touch sensor comprising a touch-sensitive surface. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the first and second manually-operable controls comprises a non-touch sensitive manually-operable control. 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus comprising:
 a data processor;   a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by the data processor to:
 cause a visual representation of an arrangement of elements associated with a set of content sources to be displayed on a visual interface of a multimedia player, the visual representation of the arrangement of elements including a visual representation of a first element associated with a first content source of the set; 
 cause a visual representation of an element selector to be moved about the visual representation of the arrangement of elements to provide visual feedback responsive to processing of a first signal received from a user interface unit that is remotely coupled to the apparatus, the first signal being representative of a contact motion that is sensed relative to absolute locations on the touch-sensitive surface; and 
 cause a visual portion of an audio/video program provided by the first content source to be displayed on the visual interface of the multimedia player responsive to processing of a second signal received from the user interface unit, the second signal being representative of a change in contact pressure on the touch-sensitive surface. 
   
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the stored instructions are executable by the data processor to:
 cause the visual representation of the arrangement of the elements to be displayed in a first region; and   cause the visual portion of the audio/video program provided by the content source to be displayed in a second region.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the first region substantially surrounds the second region. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the first region overlaps at least a portion of the second region. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the stored instructions are executable by the data processor to cause the visual representation of the element selector to be moved within an area defined by the visual representation of the arrangement of elements. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the stored instructions are executable by the data processor to cause a visual representation of at least one element other than the first element associated with the first content source to be displayed on the visual interface of the multimedia player responsive to processing of the second signal received from the user interface unit. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the stored instructions are executable by the data processor to cause the visual portion of an audio/video program to be re-sized to fit within an area defined by the visual representation of the arrangement of elements. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the element selector is configured to select one of plurality of content sources, and further wherein the visual representation of the arrangement of elements depends upon the content source selected. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein at least one of the arrangement of elements associated with the set of content sources and the visual representation of the arrangement of elements comprises selectable text. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the touch sensitive surface comprises a rectangular shape. 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the visual representation of the arrangement of elements comprises a rectangular shape.