Patent ID: 8059094

Claim:
A navigation apparatus for a three-dimensional graphical user interface, the apparatus comprising: an input unit that comprises a plurality of trackballs, each trackball being clickable and rotatable in two dimensional directions, in a space containing a certain plane and an-axis crossing the plane at a right angle, for navigation in a direction of the plane and the-axis; a detecting unit that detects a combination of the plurality of trackball movements and generates a plurality of input signals; a mapping table that defines the relationship between a combination of the plurality of input signals and a command for the navigation; and a graphics object control unit that performs the navigation corresponding to the combination of the plurality of input signals, wherein the plurality of trackballs comprises four trackballs wherein the mapping table maps a combination of a first input signal and a second input signal to a single command for navigation, the first input signal corresponding to a movement of a first trackball, of the plurality of trackballs, and the second input signal corresponding to a movement of a second trackball, of the plurality of trackballs.