Patent ID: 8593576

Claim:
A remote control method, comprising: responsive to detecting user assertion of a gesture enable input, activating a gesture sensor of a remote control to transition the remote control to a gesture enabled state; sensing a gesture motion of the remote control; converting the gesture motion into a gesture command executable by a remote-controlled device; transmitting the gesture command to the remote-controlled device; and responsive to detecting assertion of a selection control element of the remote control, sending selection command data corresponding to the selection input to the remote-controlled device; wherein converting the gesture motion occurs within a remote control context of the remote-controlled device, and wherein the gesture command sent to the remote-controlled device depends on the remote control context along with the recorded gesture motion; and wherein the remote controlled device supports gesture motion contexts selected from a group of contexts including: a volume control context, and further wherein the corresponding gesture motion includes one of the following: a single up or down movement of the remote control, a plurality of downward movements of the remote control, and a plurality of upward movements of the remote control, and further wherein the corresponding gesture commands includes instructions to increase the volume, decrease the volume, mute the volume, or return the volume to a previous state; and a channel control context, and further wherein the corresponding gesture motion includes at least one up or down movement of the remote control, and further wherein the corresponding gesture commands includes instructions to change the channel.