An authoring environment for creating and/or editing user interface elements such as widgets used in a unified interest layer. The authoring environment facilitates creation of widgets that have a consistent appearance and mechanism, and allows third-party developers to easily create widgets that have a look and feel that is consistent with a predefined set of widgets.

Widget authoring and editing environment

A user-activatable dashboard (also referred to as a unified interest layer) contains any number of user interface elements, referred to herein as “widgets,” for quick access by a user. In response to a command from a user, the dashboard is invoked and the widgets are shown on the screen. The user can activate the dashboard at any time, causing the dashboard to temporarily replace the existing user interface display on the user's screen. Once the dashboard has been activated, the user can interact with any or all of the widgets, and can configure the dashboard by adding, deleting, moving, or configuring individual widgets as desired. When the user wishes to return to the normal user interface he or she was working with, the user issues a command causing the dashboard to be dismissed. Once the dashboard has been dismissed, the previous user interface state is restored, allowing the user to resume normal interactions with the operating system.

Unified interest layer for user interface

A home entertainment system for video games and other applications includes a main unit and handheld controllers. The handheld controllers sense their own motion by detecting illumination emitted by emitters positioned at either side of a display. The controllers can be plugged into expansion units that customize the overall control interface for particular applications including but not limited to legacy video games.

Video game system with wireless modular handheld controller

A dashboard manager can be used to create, manage and deploy dashboards. Each dashboard can include one or more user interface elements (“widgets”). The dashboard manager can be invoked for providing a variety of management functions. In another aspect, dashboards, widgets and other content can be bundled together and distributed to users over a distribution channel. Users can created custom bundles using a tool that is provided for such purpose.

Management and generation of dashboards

A game operating device (controller) includes a longitudinal housing, and a holding portion held by hand to be wrapped by its palm it is formed in the housing. A direction switch is provided on an upper surface at a position where it can be operated by thumb of the hand holding the holding portion, and a start switch and a select switch are provided backward thereof. An X button 46 and a Y button are further arranged in line on the upper surface of the housing. An imaging information arithmetic unit is provided at a front end of the housing in a longitudinal direction in such a manner that an imaging device thereof is exposed from a front-end surface. A concave portion is formed on a lower surface at a position corresponding to the direction switch. The concave portion includes a valley and two inclined surfaces. An A button capable of being operated by index finger of the hand holding the holding portion is provided on the backward inclined surface. By processing an image signal obtained by imaging an infrared ray from LED modules by the imaging device, it is possible to obtain an operation signal varying according to a position and/or attitude of the controller.

Game operating device

Method and apparatus for interleaved processing of direct and indirect texture coordinates in a graphics system

A hardware-accelerated recirculating programmable texture blender/shader arrangement circulates computed color and alpha data over multiple texture blending/shading cycles (stages) to provide multi-texturing and other effects. Up to sixteen independently programmable consecutive stages, forming a chain of blending operations, are supported for applying multiple textures to a single object in a single rendering pass.

Recirculating shade tree blender for a graphics system

Method and apparatus for dynamically reconfiguring the order of hidden surface processing based on rendering mode

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accomplish an efficient full scene anti-aliasing. SOLUTION: This graphics system can separately select three sampling positions in each super sampling pixel about a 2×2 pixel group (quadruplet). A 12-bit multi-sample application range mask decides which is enabled among twelve samples in the pixel quadruplet. The super sampling pixel is filtered during copyout operation from a local memory to an external buffer memory by using a pixel blend filter for connecting seven samples (three samples from present pixels and two samples from pixels just over and under the present pixels, respectively) from the three vertically displaced pixels. A weighted average is calculated on the basis of the enabled sample in order to decide the last color of the pixels.

Method and apparatus for anti-aliasing in a graphics system

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer for generating video graphics of a video game, etc., with an efficient and inexpensive graphics system capable of performing interaction. SOLUTION: A graphics processor has an embedded frame buffer, and a copy line is provided between the embedded frame buffer 114 and an external frame buffer such as a main memory 112 connected directly to a display device 56. The copy line performs four types of combination conversion of data from a certain format into another format, for instance, one RGB and YUV color format into another RGB and YUV color format. The converted data are transferred to the external frame buffer or a texture buffer for being used as texture.

Mark M. Leather

Papers

Method and apparatus for interleaved processing of direct and indirect texture coordinates in a graphics system

Recirculating shade tree blender for a graphics system

Method and apparatus for dynamically reconfiguring the order of hidden surface processing based on rendering mode

Method and apparatus for anti-aliasing in a graphics system

Graphics system with copy out conversions between embedded frame buffer and main memory