Patent ID: 8587519

Claim:
A method for detecting performance of a rolling gesture using a multi-dimensional pointing device, comprising: at a multi-dimensional pointing device including a first button, one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of: while the first button is not activated, detecting a change in attitude of the multi-dimensional pointing device; conveying first information corresponding to the change in attitude of the multi-dimensional pointing device to a client computer system, wherein the first information enables the client computer system to perform an operation corresponding to the change in attitude of the multi-dimensional pointing device; after detecting the change in attitude of the multi-dimensional pointing device, detecting a button press of a first button of the multi-dimensional pointing device; determining, in conjunction with detecting the button press, a rolling gesture metric corresponding to performance of a rolling gesture comprising rotation of the multi-dimensional pointing device about a longitudinal axis of the multi-dimensional pointing device; and after determining the rolling gesture metric, conveying second information corresponding to the rolling gesture metric to the client computer system, wherein the second information enables the client computer system to perform an operation corresponding to the button press of the first button, wherein the operation is performed in accordance with the rolling gesture metric.