Patent ID: 7437684

Claim:
A graphical interface system for managing degrees of freedom of a virtual dummy in a dynamic environment, said dummy comprising jointed members with degrees of freedom, the system comprising: means for displaying the dummy in a first window and in a second window; means for designating a point on the means for displaying and for acting thereon; means for causing the means for displaying to display the dummy in the first window; and means for responding to the means for designating to cause the second window to display a selected member of the dummy displayed in the first window, wherein said selected member includes symbols indicating the degrees of freedom of said selected member, wherein the means for responding affects a movement of the dummy with respect to the indicated degree of freedom in response to the means for designating selecting at least one of the symbols, and wherein the means for responding responds to the means for designating by blocking or unblocking the corresponding degree of freedom in response to the means for designating selecting the at least one of the symbols, such that when the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is changed from a blocked state to an unblocked state, the selected member moves with respect to the corresponding degree of freedom, and when the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is changed from the unblocked state to the blocked state, the movement of the selected member with respect to the corresponding degree of freedom stops.