A one key video graphics terminal

Abstract

This paper describes a complete one-button video terminal to be built into a mouse-like pointing device. A small graphics LCD is mounted on the back of the mouse. This LCD acts as a window to allow visualization of a larger virtual display su~ace implemented in sofnvare. Moving the terminal along tti su~ace displays the area of current interest within the window. A variety of selector techniques may be employed, including: graphic icons, pull-down lists, pop-up menus and so on. Only one button is required to highlight andlor select the desired choice shown on the display. The device may be used as a terminal in a larger computer system or as the complete user inte~ace in standalone handheld instruments and calculators. INTRODUCTION During the course of a recentl GEnie Forth Roundtable, Chuck Moore discussed a three button keyboard which he suggested would be sufficient for most application interfaces. After all, he had been using a seven button keypad for years prior to this. I was intrigued by this concept and immediately set about to pursue this reductionist’ approach to its logical conclusion. A “zero button” keyboard is physically possible, but not intuitive (I call this the DD/SS or “dynamic deselect, static select” principle, which should be a topic for another paper). Two or more buttons suggests redundancy, so m button must be the practical minimum. However, a single key standing all alone is not as useful as a one button “terminal”, complete with display. This concept will be illustrated more fully below. Permiaeion to mpy without fee all or pert of thie materiel ie granted, provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct .xmunereial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice k given that copying ia by permission of the Association for Computing Machinery. To copy otherwiee, or to republieh, requires a fee and/or specflc permiaaion. @1991 ACM 0-89791-462-7/90/0200-0007 $1.50 BACKGROUND In 1976 I attended the NCC (National Computer Conference) held in Dallas, Texas. The Xerox Star Computer System was shown there. Later systems based on the Star design, such as the Apple Macintosh and MicroSoft Windows, with their mousebased graphical user interface (abbreviated G.U.I., pronounced “gooey”) are convincing examples of the utility of the graphics hand/eye approach to user interface design. A company called Industrial Electronic Engineers recently began marketing the Pixie Graphics LCD Switch, a pushbutton into which is built a 24 by 36 pixel graphics display. It is intended for use mainly in industrial applications such as control panels. My original contribution is to mount a graphics LCD onto the back of a one button mouse, to create a new entity: the one key video graphics computer terminal. The Pixie is not difficult to interface, but its resolution is limited. More pixels are needed. PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION The current terminal design is shown in Figure 1. The mouse pointing device is the (movable) chassis of the terminal, connected by a wire cord to the computer system when not used in stand-alone mode. On this foundation is placed a high resolution