An input device for operating a medical observation system having, arranged on an interface surface, a pointing device, hardware buttons in spaced apart areas, and a touch display panel including a graphical user interface with interchangeable software buttons. The hardware buttons and software buttons have specific functions, such as control of the pointing device, and are placed surrounding and adjacent to the periphery of the pointing device. This configuration helps the operator to simultaneously and singlehandedly operate the input device and without devoting substantial focus toward the input device itself. Various features to allow the operator to distinguish the hardware and software buttons having specific functions are presented, including tactile and haptic features, illumination effects, and other visual effects.

An operation input device includes: an operation panel unit which receives an operation input by a user touching a displayed operation key; a vibrating element installed at a specified position of the operation panel unit to vibrate the unit at least in one direction; and a vibration control section which causes the element to vibrate according to an operation input receiving condition on the panel unit. On the panel unit, operation keys are arranged more densely in a first region near the installed vibrating element than in a second region remote from the vibrating element, or keys which are more frequently used are arranged in the first region than in the second region. Alternatively, an operation key for user interfacing to set display of keys is arranged in the first region.

Provided is a keyboard navigation menu which provides navigation within a software application using keyboard commands instead of mouse/cursor based inputs. The keyboard activation menu can improve upon traditional mouse-based menus which often include hidden tabs or require multiple mouse inputs. In one example, the method may include displaying, via a user interface, a keyboard navigation menu comprising a plurality of different keyboard inputs that when pressed navigate a view of the user interface to a plurality of pages of a software application, respectively, detecting a keyboard input from among the plurality of different keyboard inputs which corresponds to a second page from among the plurality of pages of the software application, and changing a view of the user interface from the first page to the second page of the software application that corresponds to the detected keyboard input.

Methods and apparatus for adaptive keyboard scanning are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus to adaptively control operation of a keyboard includes at least one memory, instructions, and processor circuitry. The processor circuitry is to determine whether to operate the keyboard in a first mode or in a second mode different from the first mode, the first mode corresponding to a first number of keys, the second mode corresponding to a second number of keys less than the first number of keys, and set the keyboard to operate in the first mode or the second mode based on the determination.

A method and apparatus for performing a bypass block navigational function to a user interface including generating, by a processor, a webpage including a bypass block navigation attribute associated with a first portion of the webpage, receiving, at a network interface a request for the webpage from the user interface, transmitting, by the network interface, the webpage and a software module including an instruction associated with the bypass block navigation function in response to the request, causing display, at the user interface, the webpage at a starting location, receiving, from the user interface, a keystroke associated with the bypass block navigation function, and causing display, at the user interface, of the first portion of the webpage in response to the instruction associated with the bypass block navigation function.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an apparatus having a processor to detect a gaming accessory stimulation associated with a programmable layer of a number of programmable layers. The processor identifies a substitute gaming accessory stimulation of the programmable layer of the number of programmable layers of the gaming accessory. The substitute gaming accessory stimulation of the programmable layer is associated with the gaming accessory stimulation of the programmable layer of the number of programmable layers, according to a user profile of a number of user profiles associated with a user account. Other predetermined associations of stimulations of the gaming accessory with other substitute accessory stimulations are recorded in other user profiles of the number of user profiles, and the substitute gaming accessory stimulation is provided to a computing device to manage a gaming software application. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

A configurable control panel system (10) for an agricultural machine, the system comprising: one or more pre-coded pushbuttons (1), each push button having a code mechanism adapted to carry a specific code representing a dedicated function for the push button; a control panel (5) provided with one or more sockets (7) adapted to receive and detachably attach any one of said pre-coded push buttons (1), each socket having a decoding mechanism adapted to generate a code specific control signal based on the code carried by the pre-coded push button when the push button is actuated.

A display device includes a display panel and a control device. The control device functions as a determiner and a controller. The determiner determines, with a plurality of fields displayed on a screen of the display panel, whether or not an entire software keyboard is displayable without overlap with the plurality of fields on the screen of the display panel. The controller allows for, when the determiner determines that the entire software keyboard is displayable without overlap, display of the software keyboard without overlap with the plurality of fields or allows for, when the determiner determines that the entire software keyboard is not displayable without overlap, display of the software keyboard in a split form or display of the software keyboard in a partial form composed only of a portion of the software keyboard in a region of the screen out of the plurality of fields.

A function key scan code is received from an external keyboard communicatively connected to the computing device. The function key scan code corresponds to a function key of the external keyboard having been pressed. Whether function keys of an internal keyboard of the computing device are configured in an action key mode is determined. In response to determining that the function keys of the internal keyboard of the computing device are configured in the action key mode, the function key scan code received from the external keyboard is converted to an action key scan code.

At step ST2, an assign key changing item is selected from menu items. At step ST3, an assign key to which a function is assigned is selected. At step ST4, a function to be assigned is selected. The selected function is assigned to the selected assign key. At step ST5, a setting result indication screen appears. When one of two paired functions is assigned, a message which prompts a user to assign the other function. After the message has appeared for a predetermined time, the latest assigned states appear. At step ST6, the latest assign key information is stored to a non-volatile memory. To quit an assigning process, a menu button 8 is pressed and the menu is closed (at step ST8).