Patent ID: 8063890

Claim:
A mapping device suitable for use in combination with a pointing device, a display unit having a display screen, and a digitizer tablet including sensing elements arranged below a detection surface and being operatively associated with the pointing device for generating tablet positional data representing tablet input coordinates of the pointing device relative to the sensing elements as the pointing device is moved on or near the detection surface, the mapping device comprising: a unit operable in first and second modes for respectively applying first and second scaling relationships to the tablet positional data to generate display positional data for the display screen of the display unit, the display positional data representing screen coordinates corresponding to the tablet input coordinates of the pointing device on or near the detection surface, the first and second scaling relationships being different from one another such that for a given amount of movement by the pointing device on or near the detection surface, the screen coordinates generated by the first scaling relationship of the first mode represent a different distance on the display screen than the screen coordinates generated by the second scaling relationship of the second mode; and a user-activated mode switching device for permitting the user to selectively switch the unit between the first and second modes without changing the screen coordinates so that upon switching between modes the screen coordinates remain unchanged and continue to correspond to the tablet input coordinates of the pointing device on or near the detection surface, the user-activated mode switching device permitting switching between the first and second modes irrespective of the location of the screen coordinates relative to the display screen.