Abstract: A drawing tablet includes a surface and an imaging sensor. The imaging sensor captures an image from the surface of the drawing tablet. The image may be transmitted to a computer, where the image can be processed: for example, to correct for distortion or to animate a portion of the image.

Abstract: An audio system with a removable faceplate. The system may include a base unit including at least one source of audio input and at least one speaker operable to provide audio output. In addition the system may include a removable faceplate that is an active device, and a connector allowing connection between the removable faceplate to the base unit. The faceplate may include an internal power source to provide power to the faceplate when removed from the base unit, a memory for storing data representative of audio signals, and a connector allowing connection to an output device.

Abstract: A transparent layer of display data may be provided over the top of another layer of display data on a display so that the user may see both layers clearly and simultaneously. This capability may be provided without employing modifications to the application program generating the data to be displayed transparently. That is, transparency effects may be provided for the display output data of application programs that do not have native transparency support. Embodiments of the present invention provide a generalized interface for accessing transparent display features by an application program.

Abstract: Providing input signals to a system having a display, the system being coupled to a source of video data signals, such as a video camera, is accomplished by analyzing the video data signals to detect an object in the scene over or at least partially coinciding with a location of at least one transparent user interface element, inserting at least one transparent user interface element into the captured video data signals, rendering the scene represented by the video data signals on the display such that the scene is transparently visible on the display, and generating an input signal for the system in response to detecting the object over or at least partially coinciding with the at least one transparent user interface element.

Abstract: A transparent layer of display data may be provided over the top of another layer of display data on a display so that the user may see both layers clearly and simultaneously. This capability may be provided without employing modifications to the application program generating the data to be displayed transparently. That is, transparency effects may be provided for the display output data of application programs that do not have native transparency support. Embodiments of the present invention provide a generalized interface for accessing transparent display features by an application program.

Abstract: A method and apparatus communicates conference information from a host computer system to one or more guest computer systems. The host computer system includes a host application sharing engine (HASE). The HASE posts a unique message to a message queue of a shared application program. The HASE monitors the message queue for retrieval of the unique message. Upon detecting the retrieval of the unique message from the message queue by the shared application program, the HASE communicates the conference information to the one or more guest computer systems.

Abstract: A method of creating transparent graphics for display in a computer system. A first frame buffer is provided to store display components to be displayed transparently on a computer monitor, the display components having a plurality of pixels. A second frame buffer is provided as a new output frame buffer. Pixels of the first frame buffer are color mixed with pixels of the computer system's original output frame buffer to produce color mixed pixels. The pixels of the output frame buffer are interleaved with the color mixed pixels, the interleaved pixels are stored in the second frame buffer, and the pixels of the second frame buffer are displayed. The color mixing is accomplished by a weighted average of the color components of the pixels of the first frame buffer and the output frame buffer.

Abstract: A method for managing digital graphical data includes defining a first pixel using a characteristic in a first set of sub-pixels. A second pixel adjacent to the first pixel is defined using the characteristic in a second set of sub-pixels.

Abstract: Providing input signals to a computer system having a display, the computer system being coupled to a video camera or other video source, is accomplished by capturing video data signals generated by the video camera, the video data signals representing a scene, rendering the scene on the display such that the scene is reflected and transparently visible on the display, analyzing the video data signals to detect an object in the scene, and generating an input signal for the computer system in response to the detected object.

Abstract: Host input to a shared application is blocked while a guest has input control. Patch instructions are written over keyboard and mouse event procedures, which are operating system subroutines defining the normal entry points to the system queue for host mouse and keyboard events generated by host-mouse and keyboard drivers. The patch instructions call a patch subroutine which were written into the host-executed application-sharing program. The patch subroutine is operable to determine whether the host has control to enter the mouse and keyboard events into the system queue. If the host is without input control, the patch subroutine drops the events and replaces the patch instructions to their prior position on the keyboard or mouse event procedures. If the host has input rights, the original keyboard or mouse event code is written over the patch instruction and returned for execution.

Abstract: Association of a physical driver object with its logical contents in a logical driver object by identifying the logical driver object and using a non-operating system component to cause recreation of the physical driver object. A handle and a memory address of a logical driver object are obtained and the handle is locked to prevent its movement in memory. A clone of the logical driver object is created, whereupon the contents of the logical driver object and the contents of the clone are swapped. The clone is then deleted. Subsequent reselection of the logical driver object into a device context results in an observable recreation of a corresponding physical driver object.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for synchronizing the display of the output of one or more applications being shared on participating host and guest computers, where the respective areas available for display of the output are unequal. In one embodiment, the host or a guest may alter the output display on the monitor's of all other guest participants. The host issues a command receivable by participating guests to alter the displayed output on the guest monitors corresponding to display output surrounding a point movable within the output display on the host monitor. A guest wishing to alter the output display on other guest monitors issues a request receivable by the host which in turn issues a command to all guests to update their output displays. The guests can be instructed to update the displays on their monitors to display output surrounding a point, movable under control of the requesting guest, within the output displayed on the requesting guest's monitor.

Abstract: Host translation of guest keyboard events is blocked to effectively isolate a guest keyboard from a host keyboard during applications sharing. A guest keyboard driver translates guest keyboard events which are transmitted to a host for use in shared applications. A patch instruction is written over a host keyboard event module which causes a jump to a patch subroutine when an attempt is made to deposit host keyboard events in the storage queue. Host keyboard events are marked by the patch subroutine and the marked host events are deposited in a shadow queue which is disposed in parallel with the host storage queue. Translated guest events also are deposited in the shadow queue. Raw host and guest keyboard events are stored in the host storage queue. When a shared application requires data from the host storage queue, a call for a translation of the outgoing data is made.

Abstract: Host multiple-byte character generator processing of guest keyboard events is blocked during applications sharing. A guest keyboard driver generates guest keyboard events which may be processed by any guest multiple-byte character generator. The guest events are transmitted to a host for use in shared applications. A patch instruction is written over a host storage queue which causes a jump to a patch subroutine when an attempt is made to deposit host keyboard events in the storage queue. Host keyboard events are marked by the patch subroutine and the marked host events are deposited in a shadow queue which is disposed in parallel with the host storage queue. Guest events also are deposited in the shadow queue. Untranslated host and single-byte character guest events, are stored in the host storage queue. When a shared application requires data from the host storage queue, the outgoing event is examined for origin, such as by examining the shadow queue.

Abstract: In application sharing, an activation message to one of an application-sharing application and a shared application is monitored. One or both of the application-sharing application and the shared application are supervised by the application-sharing application based on the activation message. In an embodiment, where the activation message calls for one of an activation or deactivation of the shared application, the application-sharing application respectively renders at least a portion of its own graphical user interface in an active or inactive color. An embodiment further prevents deactivation of an application when the activation message is for an activation of the application-sharing application.

Abstract: A color image signal is reduced and converted. Dithering the remainder is an embodiment. For example a pixel value is separated into its pixel components. Each component is further split into most-significant bit (MSB) and least-significant bit (LSB) parts. The MSBs from each component are combined to provide a color number. The color number is an index to a nearest-color map. Each entry in the nearest-color map is an index to a spectrum color palette having color entries. The spectrum color palette is an evenly divided spectrum of the colors displayable on an associated video display system. The particular color accessed in the color spectrum palette by the color palette is used for the pixel in the image being reduced and converted. In an embodiment, the LSBs of each color component are dithered. If the value of the LSBs of a color component are greater than a dither threshold value, a one is added to the MSBs of the color, prior to the MSB values being combined into the color number.