Patent ID: 6161126
Filing Date: 2000-12-12
Classification: A63F,G05B,G06F,H04L

Abstract:
A method for providing force feedback over a network comprising:causing a connection to be established between a server machine and a client machine over a network, said client machine including a visual display device and an interface device providing computer-controlled physical force feedback to a user of said interface device;receiving web page information from said server machine over said network, said web page information including screen display information representing a visual layout of a web page and force feedback information related to providing a feel sensation correlated with said visual layout;causing a display of said web page based upon said screen display information, said display provided on said visual display device of said client machine;receiving input information from said interface device for positioning a displayed cursor with respect to said visual layout of said web page; andcausing a force feedback signal to be output to said interface device, said force feedback signal based upon said input information and based upon said web page information received over said network, wherein said causing said force feedback signal to be output includes a call to a force feedback program running on said client machine that provides said force feedback signal received by said interface device, wherein said interface device outputs computer-controlled physical force feedback to said user correlated with said visual layout of said web page on said visual display device, said force feedback being based upon said force feedback signal.