Apparatus and method for managing operations of accessories

1. A method, comprising:

presenting, by a processing system comprising a processor, a graphical user interface depicting a plurality of substitute actions and an accessory device, wherein the accessory device controls a software application, and wherein the plurality of substitute actions comprise substitute stimulation data for controlling the software application;

associating, by the processing system, a first substitute action of the plurality of substitute actions with an input function of the accessory device, wherein stimulation of the input function of the accessory device produces accessory stimulus data that controls the software application differently from the first substitute action;

recording, by the processing system, the association between the first substitute action and the input function;

receiving, by the processing system, the accessory stimulus data from the accessory device responsive to a stimulation of the input function of the accessory device;

detecting, by the processing system, the association of the first substitute action to the input function of the accessory device;

obtaining, by the processing system, substitute stimulus data defined by the first substitute action;

replacing, by the processing system, the accessory stimulus data received from the accessory device with the substitute stimulus data obtained for the first substitute action; and

providing, by the processing system, the substitute stimulus data for controlling the software application instead of providing the accessory stimulus data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substitute stimulus data is provided to an operating system that controls the software application.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software application is a gaming application which invokes a gaming feature according to the substitute stimulus data.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the operating system launches another software application according to the first substitute action.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the accessory device comprises one of a keyboard, a gaming pad, a mouse, a gaming console controller, a joystick, a microphone, or a headset.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of substitute actions comprise another accessory stimulus data of another accessory device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein recording the association comprises storing, by the processing system, the association between the first substitute action and input function in a profile.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising associating, by the processing system, the profile with the software application.

9. A non-transitory machine-readable storage device, comprising instructions, wherein responsive to a processing system including a processor executing the instructions, the processing system performs operations comprising:

receiving a request to associate a first substitute action of a plurality of substitute actions with an input function of a first accessory device of a plurality of accessory devices;

associating the first substitute action with the input function of the first accessory device, wherein stimulation of the input function of the first accessory device generates accessory stimulus data that controls a software application differently from the first substitute action;

detecting the accessory stimulus data generated by the first accessory device responsive to a stimulation of the input function;

obtaining substitute stimulus data for the first substitute action;

substituting the accessory stimulus data received from the first accessory device with the substitute stimulus data obtained for the first substitute action; and

sending the substitute stimulus data for controlling the software application in place of the accessory stimulus data.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise presenting in a graphical user interface the plurality of substitute actions and the first accessory device to enable associating the first substitute action with the input function of the first accessory device.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the software application is executed by a computing device remotely located from the processor.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the software application is executed by the processor.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise storing the first substitute action in a profile.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise associating the profile with the software application.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the first substitute action comprises accessory stimulus data of a second accessory device of the plurality of accessory devices, wherein the first accessory device differs from the second accessory device.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the first accessory device comprises one of a keyboard, a gaming pad, a mouse, a gaming console controller, a joystick, a microphone, a headset with a microphone, or any combination thereof.

17. A computing device, comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processing system including a processor coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the processing system performs operations comprising:

receiving accessory stimulus data from an accessory device responsive to an input function of the accessory device being stimulated;

detecting an association between the input function of the accessory device and a substitute action of a plurality of substitute actions, wherein the substitute action comprises substitute stimulation data for controlling a software application, and wherein substitute stimulus data differs from the accessory stimulus data produced by the accessory device when the input function is stimulated;

substituting the accessory stimulus data received from the accessory device with the substitute stimulus data responsive to detecting the association; and

controlling the software application by sending the substitute stimulus data rather than the accessory stimulus data received from the accessory device.

18. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the computing device comprises the accessory device.

19. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the accessory device comprises one of a keyboard, a gaming pad, a mouse, a gaming console controller, a joystick, a microphone, a headset, or any combination thereof, wherein the software application comprises a gaming software application, and wherein the computing device comprises one of a first computer executing the gaming software application, a second computer communicatively coupled to a first gaming console executing the gaming software application, or a second gaming console executing the gaming software application.

20. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the software application is executed by a device remotely located from the computing device, and wherein the substitute stimulus data is received by the device to control the software application.