BigPatents India

A physical user interface is provided as an adjunct to a graphical user interlace to a device having an operating system. The physical interface has a work surface or workspace that is scanned by one or more sensors capable of determining the position of objects. The work surface or workspace is sub-divided into two or more regions. Each region is representative of a user-generated command. In some examples, the one or more sensors are adapted to determine the position and orientation of one or more counters. The sensors can distinguish which region a counter is located in and what orientation it is in. The sensors provide an output signal, based on the determination, to the device.