Patent ID: 7965279

Claim:
A computer system comprising: at least one input device comprising: a housing having an upper surface; a plurality of finger input mechanisms disposed on the upper surface of the housing in substantially the same plane to receive input from a plurality of fingers of a user, wherein each of the plurality of finger input mechanisms has a respective plurality of possible input values; a thumb input mechanism disposed on the housing to receive input from a thumb of the user, wherein the thumb input mechanism permits the user to select among the plurality of possible input values for assignment to at least one of the plurality of finger input mechanisms; a signal generating mechanism which generates a first signal in response to actuation of the thumb input mechanism by the user and generates a second signal in response to actuation of one of the plurality of finger input mechanisms, the combination of the first signal and second signal indicating a user data input request of the input value assigned to the actuated finger input mechanism; and a communication mechanism which provides information associated with the user data input request; and an object device which receives and processes the information, the object device comprising a display mechanism and one or more processors that: present on the display mechanism a character presentation graphic comprising a plurality of character selection icons, receive the information associated with the user data input request and select one of the character selection icons corresponding to the input value assigned to the actuated finger input mechanism, and perform a function corresponding to the selected character selection icon.