Patentseed

As our previous blog notes, Microsoft has done its share to advance the mouse.    A new patent application discloses a mouse with a ring-shaped scroll wheel.  Wait, don’t we already have that you ask?  Well, sort of.  We have a scroll wheel, but it’s typically a solid wheel, and not hollow in the center as the “ring-shaped” signifies.  Here’s Microsoft’s explanation:

Prior scroll wheels are generally solid circular wheels with a hub positioned at the center. These prior scroll wheels are rotatably mounted to a mouse body by an axle extending through a center hub of the scroll wheel. The center hub, axle, and associated support structure for the scroll wheel occupy valuable space inside the mouse, and their shape are accommodated by the mouse body, resulting in a relatively standardized appearance, including height profile, among many prior computer mouse designs.

Patent application 11/938,798 may provide marginal improvement for the mouse, but the true significance may be with other controllers.  As the patent application points out, a gaming controller with a ring-shaped scroll wheel may be next.

Microsoft is far behind Google when it comes to internet advertising, and it’s no secret that they’re desperate to catch up.  Patent application 11/939,269 is one such attempt by Microsoft.  As Google advertisers well know, you use AdWords by associating your ad with a set of keywords.  Those keywords are matched against searches performed on Google, and also against content on websites (utilizing AdSense).  Microsoft wants to extend this method of advertising to visual images, including video.  Their method utilizes automatic image recognition to categorize the images.  The advertiser either inputs keywords or selects from a list of categories.  Matching images/videos are then discovered for the advertisement to be displayed with.  Of course, this is just a grossly oversimplified synopsis of what happens.  If you care to know the technical (and mundane) details, follow the link and have a read.

In Microsoft’s patent application 11/940,093, multiplayer game refers to multiple players on a single gaming console and TV set.  What if you need to know something that the other players shouldn’t?  Well, one method of keeping that information secret is by providing a list of questions on the screen.  You secretly select which question to ask, and the answer will be provided to you via the screen or by vibrating your game controller.  This works particularly well if all of the questions have YES/NO answers.  Just be sure you remember which question you asked, otherwise you could find yourselves playing detectives with no criminals!

We’re suckers for sci-fi concepts, so when we see the word “holographic”, we’re immediately sold. And it’s usually even more newsworthy when the patent applicant is Microsoft. Unfortunatley, patent application 11/935,549 did disappoint a little. The patent application discloses a method and system for a virtual meeting, where holographic images are used. The novelty appears to be the ability to control whether a particular holographic image is privately viewable or publicly viewable. Here’s an example Sony provides:

“Based on the private setting, user A as a virtual image within the meeting space will not be viewable by user B. The user or invitee virtual image privacy or public setting can be useful in a situation in which a superior wants to monitor a meeting without changing or affecting meeting flow or user demeanor. Thus, user A, user B, user C, and speaker X can be monitored within the virtual meeting space by a boss in order to gain a real and uninfluenced insight on the virtual meeting and/or users invited thereto.”

Simply put, your virtual meeting may be monitored for quality purposes.

In an ironic twist, 21st century inventors may pay homage to the mouse rather than the mousetrap.  Microsoft’s inventors certainly will.  They’ve developed BlueTrack technology, and it isn’t just for looks.  Microsoft claims the technology allows mice to work on virtually any surface.  So if you’re tired of your cursor jumping left while you move your archaic oblique-LED optical mouse right, then blue is your color.  And if you’re interested in understanding the details of how Microsoft was able to achieve this, look no further than Microsoft’s patent application 11/876,092 filed on Oct 22, 2007.