Patent ID: 8264455

Claim:
A computer-implemented process for dynamically mapping physical controls on a repositionable physical controller device to application controls for an application being executed on a computer comprising a shared touch-sensitive display surface, comprising using the computer to perform the following process actions: upon a user placing a physical controller device (PCD) comprising one or more physical controls on the display surface, recognizing and identifying the PCD and displaying a mapping aura for the PCD; upon the user touching an activate direct-touch button which is displayed within the mapping aura, activating a mapping procedure for the PCD, and displaying a highlighted direct-touch button over each application control displayed on the display surface which is available to be mapped to the physical controls on the PCD; and upon the user selecting a particular application control which is available to be mapped by touching the highlighted direct-touch button residing over said particular application control, creating a dynamic mapping between the selected application control and a user-selected physical control on the PCD.