Patent ID: 6952196

Claim:
An interactor system for programming a computer system, the interactor system enabling a user to program the computer system through the manipulation of physical objects, the interactor system comprising: a plurality of interactors each having an identity specified by identification circuitry; a detection array comprising an internal circuitry, including a plurality of positions at which an interactor may be selectively, manually, removably placed in order to at least temporarily connect the identification circuitry of the interactor with the internal circuitry of the detection array; an interface responsive to the disposition of interactors within the detection array, the interface operable to provide an interactor signal indicative of the identity and position of each interactor disposed within the detection array; and a computer readable medium storing application data defining an identity mapping between each interactor identity and a corresponding interactor identity instruction, the application data further defining a position mapping between each of the plurality of positions and a corresponding position instruction, wherein the operation of a the computer system coupled to the interface and the computer readable medium is programmed according to the interactor signal and the application data to provide an output, and wherein the output is associated with the interactor identity instruction, and the position instruction determines a characteristic of the output.