Patent ID: 8161403
Filing Date: 2012-04-17
Classification: G06F,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for handling software objects within a surface based computing environment comprising: presenting a plurality of different visual objects upon a surface based computing device that is a single interactive computing device comprising hardware and software that is concurrently utilized by a plurality of different users positioned about the surface based computing device, each of the different users directly interacting with the surface based computing device to effectuate changes; passing the visual objects among the different users by moving the visual objects on a surface of the surface based computing device responsive to user interactions of any of the different users with the surface based computing device, wherein each passing of one of the visual objects alters a current position of the visual object on the surface of the surface based computing device but which does not alter a return point; within software executing upon the surface based computing device maintaining an association between each of the visual objects displayed upon the surface based computing device at a current position and a return point, wherein for each of the visual objects, a data store of the surface based computing device indexes the object against an owner of the corresponding visual object, a possessor of the corresponding visual object, and the return point of the corresponding visual object, wherein the possessor and the owner recorded for the visual objects are one of the different users positioned about the surface based computing device; detecting an occurrence of a return object event for one of the visual objects; and automatically passing the visual object associated with the return object event from the current position to the return point associated with that visual object based upon the occurrence of the return object event, wherein the surface based computing device indexes at least a portion of the visual objects against a return event, wherein different types of return events are recorded in the data store of the surface based computing device for different ones of the visual objects, wherein the different types of return events associated with the visual objects comprise a duration based return event triggered when the duration expires, a return event triggered when possessor or owner of the visual object logs off from the surface based computing device, and a return event triggered by a possessor or owner of the visual object leaving a proximity necessary for directly interacting with the surface based computing device, wherein the return point represents a storage location external to the surface based computing device, and wherein the passing of one of the visual objects automatically removes the visual object from a user accessible storage location of the surface based computing device.