JP2001142631A - Input system and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mounting type input system which is small, can be used for anything and is easily learned of its use. SOLUTION: The sensor holding tool 12 of an input sensor device 110 is mounted on a part of a human body, movement sensors 10 and 11 are touched to an optional object, force generated by moving the sensors along the surface of the object is measured, the force is converted into an electric signal, and the value of a signal outputted in accordance with the generated force is varied. A data converting device 105 performs an operation of the output signal, calculates the characteristics quantity of inputted data, performs calculation with the characteristics quantity corresponding to a character and a control instruction stored in a storing means 115 and recognizes inputted characters and instructions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a wearable input system for inputting and instructing character data to an information processing apparatus and a method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As portable information processing apparatuses have become widespread, opportunities for many users to use them in various places other than offices and homes are increasing. Recently, a wearable information processing apparatus, which is a development of the portable information processing apparatus, has also been developed. By wearing the wearable information processing device on the body, the user can read a mail and access the WWW, for example, while walking.

[0003] By using such a device, not only the style of hitting a keyboard while sitting on a chair in front of a desk as in the past, but also typing a memo on a street or in a store, walking or in a train There is a need for an input method suitable for a place and use, such as sending an e-mail while traveling.

However, a conventional portable device requires an appropriate place for placing the device when inputting characters or giving instructions to the device, or holding the device with one hand and holding the device with the other. We needed both hands to operate. Therefore, it was not possible to use it in situations where access was limited, when carrying luggage, or when wearing an umbrella.

In the case of a wearable device, it is not necessary to hold the device, so the above-mentioned problem is eliminated. However, conventional input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel are not suitable for mounting. Various alternatives have been proposed.

For example, a one-handed keyboard (http) which inputs data by simultaneously pressing a plurality of keys while holding down a portable keyboard with one hand while reducing the number of keys.
p: // www. handykey. com /), a device for recognizing voice input from a headset, a device for attaching sensors to a plurality of fingers and interpreting the movements of the fingers (JP-A-6-28074, JP-A-7-112294), A device that has a shape and recognizes characters from the movement of the pen and the force applied to the pen (Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-64883, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-6)
2817).

[0007] However, in the case of voice input, there are problems that it is difficult to use it in a place with noise and that the contents of speech leak to other people. In a one-handed keyboard that simultaneously presses a plurality of keys or a method of inputting a combination of finger movements, rules for correspondence between finger movements and characters are complicated, and it is not easy for a user to memorize the correspondence. The pen-type input device is
It is inconvenient for the device to be large and portable.

Therefore, there is a need for a simple character input method and an instruction method that are excellent in portability, have no restrictions on the place of use, and can be used even by those who are not accustomed to keyboards and mice.

[0009]

As described above,
The conventional method has a problem in any of the size of the device, the limitation of the place of use, and the ease of learning.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a wearable input device and a wearable input system which are small, can be used anywhere, and are easy to learn.

It is another object of the present invention to provide not only an online-type input device for performing recognition processing in accordance with a user's input operation, but also an offline-type input device and system for temporarily recording a signal and performing recognition processing later. And

It is another object of the present invention to extend the operation time by providing a power saving mechanism.

[0013]

The invention of claim 1 is an input sensor device in an input system for inputting predetermined meaningful data using the movement of a user's body. A sensor holding device that is attached to a part of the body of the user and converts the movement of the body into a predetermined electric operation signal and outputs the signal, and a sensor holding device that can be attached to the part of the body, A motion sensor that is provided on the sensor holding device, makes a contact surface of the sensor holding device contact or approach an arbitrary target, and changes an operation signal by moving the sensor holding device in a state of the contact or proximity; An input sensor device in an input system characterized by having an input sensor device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the input sensor device in the input system according to the first aspect, further comprising a communication unit for transmitting the operation signal to the input system or another information processing system. is there.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the input sensor device according to the first or second aspect, the sensor holding device is mounted on the body of the user by providing the device on the body. It is.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a contact sensor for detecting whether or not a contact surface of the sensor holding device is in contact with or in proximity to the surface of the object, and a contact or proximity of the surface of the object with the contact sensor. Only when it detects that
4. The input sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising a drive determination unit configured to drive the motion sensor. 5.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the motion sensor is an acceleration sensor, an optical sensor, a capacitance change detection sensor, a pressure sensor, or a combination of these sensors. 5. The input sensor device according to item 4.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the contact sensor is an acceleration sensor, an optical sensor, a capacitance change detection sensor, a pressure sensor, a switch, or a combination of these sensors and switches. An input sensor device according to claim 1.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data conversion device in an input system for inputting predetermined meaningful data by utilizing the movement of the body of the user. An operation signal feature calculation unit for calculating the feature of the operation signal, and a storage feature corresponding to a character or a control command recorded in advance. An amount storage unit, a similarity calculation unit that determines whether the operation signal feature calculated by the operation signal feature calculation unit is close to the storage feature recorded by the feature storage, and the similarity calculation unit A data conversion device for an input system, comprising: a recognition unit that recognizes a storage feature value determined to be close to a feature value of an operation signal as data input by the user. A.

The invention according to claim 8 is the data conversion device in the input system according to claim 7, further comprising a communication unit for receiving the operation signal.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mode switching unit for switching between a character input mode and a pointing mode, and when the mode switching unit is in the pointing mode, controlling the output position of the pointer screen in accordance with the operation signal. The data conversion device according to claim 6, further comprising: a pointer position control unit that performs the operation.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data conversion method in an input method for inputting predetermined meaningful data by utilizing the movement of the body of the user. And an operation signal feature amount calculating step of calculating a feature amount of the operation signal, and storing a storage feature amount corresponding to a character or a control command in advance. Amount storage step, a similarity calculation step of determining whether the operation signal feature amount calculated in the operation signal feature amount calculation step is close to the storage feature amount recorded in the feature amount storage step, and an operation performed by the similarity degree calculation step. A recognition step of recognizing that the stored feature value determined to be close to the signal feature value is data input by the user. A data conversion method in the input how.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing a program for realizing a data conversion method in an input method for inputting predetermined meaningful data by utilizing the movement of a user's body. The method is for recognizing the data based on an operation signal according to the movement of the body of the user, and includes an operation signal feature amount calculation function of calculating a feature amount of the operation signal, and a character or control command in advance. A feature amount storage function for recording the corresponding storage feature amount, and a similarity calculation function for determining whether the operation signal feature amount calculated in the operation signal feature amount calculation function is close to the storage feature amount recorded in the feature amount storage function And a recognizing function of recognizing, as the data input by the user, a storage feature determined to be close to the feature of the operation signal by the similarity calculation function. It is a recording medium of a program realizing the data conversion method of the input and wherein the.

According to the present invention, since the input sensor device can be attached to a part of the body, for example, a fingertip, the size of the input device can be reduced as compared with the related art.

Further, the input sensor device attached is brought into contact with or close to an arbitrary object, for example, a surface of a wall, a desk, glass, etc., a palm, a thigh, a back of another person, and the like, and is moved along the surface only to move characters. There is no restriction on the place of use because input is possible.

Furthermore, the input is performed by drawing a character on the surface of the object with a finger, so that the motion sensor can digitize the movement along the surface and realize the conversion to the character by the recognition means. Easy.

Further, since the processing can be performed off-line, the present invention makes it possible to easily perform memo writing or the like at an arbitrary place and reuse the memo at an information processing apparatus at a later date. Become. Furthermore, since a power saving mechanism is provided, it can be used for a long time.

[0028]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> In a first embodiment, an input system including an input sensor device 110 and a data conversion device 105 for converting data input by the input sensor device 110 into character data will be described.

[Input Sensor Device 110] First, the input sensor device 110 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows an input sensor device 110 which is a wearable input device, which is used by being attached to a user's fingertip.

The input sensor device 110 is arranged so that when the sensor surface of the sensor holding device 12 to be put on the user's finger is brought into contact with or close to an arbitrary object and is moved along the surface of the object, the direction parallel to the surface of the object is obtained. Sensor acting on force acting on
At 0 and 11, the input state is measured and output as an operation signal.

Here, for the sake of explanation, two motion sensors 10 and 11 are arranged orthogonally as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the direction of the fingertip is defined as the Y axis, the direction perpendicular to the fingertip on the same plane as the surface of the object is defined as the X axis, and the direction perpendicular to the surface of the object is defined as the Z axis. Also, the right, upper, and front directions in the drawing are defined as positive directions, and the opposite directions are defined as negative directions.

FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of the motion sensors 10 and 11 on the sensor holding device 12.

The motion sensor 1 is mounted on the sensor holding device 12.
0 and 11 and peripheral circuits 13 such as an amplifier are mounted. The sensor holding device 12 also serves as a board for wiring with the motion sensors 10 and 11 and the peripheral circuit 13, and a cable 14.
Or wirelessly with the information processing device.

When the connection is made with the cable 14, it also serves as a power supply wiring. In the case of wireless, the sensor holding device 12
A battery is provided with the battery or supplied separately.

For the motion sensors 10 and 11, a material whose resistance value changes when a force is applied (piezo element, conductive rubber, polymer compound having a piezo effect, such as polyvinylidene fluoride, etc.) can be used. Alternatively, the same effect can be obtained even with a material whose capacitance changes when a force is applied.

FIG. 4 is a view of the sensor holding device 12 as viewed from the side.

The surface of the sensor holding device 12 is covered with a protective film 15 for the purpose of protecting the motion sensors 10 and 11. The height of the motion sensors 10 and 11 is
Higher, so that the force of the outer shell is applied to the motion sensors 10, 11.

(First Realization Example of Motion Sensor) FIG. 5 shows a first realization example of the motion sensors 10 and 11.

In the first embodiment, a capacitance change detecting sensor for measuring a change in capacitance is used.

An H-shaped beam 21 and a center plate 22 are mounted on a silicon wafer. Center plate 22
The plate 23 fixed on the wafer is arranged in contrast. Center plate 22 and two fixed plates 2
3 are equally spaced, a current is passed between both plates, and the plates are operated as capacitors.

The beam 21 is mounted so as to float on the wafer, and is operated in the direction when a force is applied from the left and right directions in the drawing. Then, the interval between the center plate 22 and the fixed plate 23 changes, and the capacity between both plates changes. The force applied by this change in capacitance can be measured.

The circuit for measurement is described in the document “Transistor Technology SPECIAL No. 66”, CQ Publishing, 1999, and can realize a circuit in which the output voltage of the amplifier changes according to the applied force.

(Second Realization Example of Motion Sensor) FIGS. 6 and 7 show a second realization example of the motion sensor.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7A, a fixed plate 30 divided into four triangles by an insulator is realized on siliconware. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (b), the movable plate 31 is opposed to the fixed plate 30 in a floating state.

As in the first embodiment, both plates 30, 3
A current is passed through 1 and the plate is operated as a sensor.
The two plates are connected by a rubber film, and when a force is applied to the movable plate 31, the movable plate 31 moves in that direction. When no force is applied, the fixed plates 30 face the movable plate 31 at the same point, and all capacitances are equal.

For example, when a force is applied from the left to the right of the screen, the capacitance of the plates other than the right side decreases.

The change in capacitance is converted into a change in voltage in the same manner as described above to output a change in voltage corresponding to the applied force.

(Third Realization Example of Motion Sensor) In the above-described realization example, a light receiving section and a movable plate
This is a case where a light emitting unit is mounted on the optical sensor and the optical sensor is realized.

When no force is applied, the amount of light input to all the light receiving units is equal. When a force is applied, a difference occurs between the light receiving units, and therefore, it is possible to output a change in voltage corresponding to the applied force.

(Fourth Implementation Example of Motion Sensor) A bag containing gas or liquid is mounted on the sensor holding device 12, and a pressure sensor is provided at the end of the bag. A method is also conceivable in which the movement in the horizontal direction applies pressure to the bag in the traveling direction, and as a result, the value of the pressure sensor changes.

(Fifth Realization Example of Motion Sensor) The pressure sensors for sensing the force in the Z-axis direction are arranged in an array on the sensor holding instrument 12. Moving in the horizontal direction increases the output from the sensor in the direction of travel. It is possible to obtain the traveling direction by checking which position of the array output is larger in the post-processing.

(Sixth Implementation Example of Motion Sensor) FIG. 8 shows motion sensors 10 and 1 for detecting a direction toward a sensor holding device 12.
1 shows an arrangement of a contact sensor 16 for detecting contact with the contact sensor 1.

A current is applied to the motion sensors 10 and 11 shown in FIG. 5 to detect a change in capacitance between the plates, thereby detecting a force applied. However, flowing the current constantly shortens the operation time of the input sensor device 110.

Since the force applied to the input sensor device 110 only needs to be measured when the input sensor device 110 is in contact with the input sensor device 110, the contact sensor 16
Is provided, it is determined whether or not the input sensor device 110 is in contact with the symmetry plane.

Applying a current to the plate only when the value of the contact sensor 16 indicates that a contact is made can reduce the required power, which in turn leads to an increase in the operating time of the entire system.

(Seventh Implementation of Motion Sensor) The motion sensor may be a strain sensor.

(Effects of Using Input Sensor Device) The above sensors are arranged along the X axis and the Y axis.
The values of the forces applied along the X-axis and the Y-axis change only for the corresponding sensors. If it is added diagonally, X
Forces separated in the axial direction and the Y-axis direction are applied to the respective sensors, and each sensor reacts only to a force along the movable direction. As a result, the output of each amplifier is changed according to the force in the movable direction. Change.

In summary, by arranging the motion sensors 10 and 11 along the X-axis and Y-axis directions as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the user can come into contact with the object along the surface of the object. When the input sensor device 110 is moved while moving, the force is applied to the motion sensors 10 and 11 along the moving direction, the capacitance of the motion sensors 10 and 11 changes, and the output from the amplifier changes according to the applied force. I do. When moved obliquely, voltages corresponding to the forces resolved in the X-axis and Y-axis directions are output from the respective amplifiers.

Thus, the input sensor device 110 that converts the movement of the body of the user wearing the sensor holding device 12 into an electric signal can be realized.

The output signal from the input sensor device 110 is
A wireless connection is realized by transmitting the output signal as it is through AM and FM modulation as it is transmitted to other devices through a wire, and by transmitting A / D conversion and transmitting digital data. Is also possible.

In the input sensor device 110, since the transmission speed is low and the transmission distance is short, the miniaturization is easy and the mounting on the sensor holding device 12 is easy.

(Modification) In the present embodiment, the number of sensors is two, but there is no problem if three or more sensors are used. In this case, the sensor may be arranged in the direction equally divided by the number of sensors along the circumference of 360 degrees so as to maximize the sensitivity of the sensor.

FIG. 9 shows eight cases. The direction in which the sensor holding device is moved can be determined based on the output from each sensor.

[Data Conversion Apparatus 105] Next, the data conversion apparatus 105 for converting the output signal of the input sensor apparatus 110 into character data will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Structure of Data Conversion Device) The data conversion device 105 is composed of a calculation means 112, a display means 116, a storage means 115, a memory 113, an input sensor device 110, an interface 111, and a bus 114 as shown in FIG. As a program on an information processing device to be executed.

The calculation means 112 is also called a CPU, and performs calculation according to a program recorded in a ROM or a hard disk in advance.

The memory 113 is used to temporarily hold programs and data necessary for calculation. In this embodiment, the memory 113 is also used to store data as operation signals from the input sensor device 110. You.

The storage means 115 is a hard disk or EP
It is constituted by a ROM or the like, and retains data even when power supply to the data conversion device 105 is interrupted. A program for operating the data conversion device 105 and dictionary data for recognition are held.

The display means 116 displays character data as a recognition result of the input data, trajectory data calculated from the input data, or a result of performing a predetermined operation in accordance with the recognition result. It is composed of a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

The interface 111 is for working the data, which is the operation signal from the input sensor device 110, with the information processing device, and usually reads the value from the input sensor device 110 in response to a data read command from the arithmetic operation means 112. Output.

Each of the above-described modules is connected to the bus 114, and moves data between the modules according to a data read signal, a write signal, and an address signal.
In addition, a keyboard, a mouse, a voice recognition unit, a communication unit, and the like may be provided as input units.

[Signal Flow of Input System] FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a signal flow of the input sensor device 110 and the data conversion device 105. Note that the amplifier unit 102,
102, A / D converters 103, 103, correction circuit 10
4 and 104 are included in the peripheral circuit 13 of the input sensor device 110 in FIG.

1. Steps S1 and S2 In steps S1 and S2, the motion sensors 10 and 11 and the amplifier units 102 and 102 output a voltage corresponding to the applied force as described above.

2. Step S3 In step S3, the A / D converter 103 discretizes the output voltage of the amplifier 102 at a cycle corresponding to the frequency of the input clock and converts the output voltage into a numerical signal.

For example, if the frequency is 100 Hz, sampling is performed 100 times per second. Since the range of the numerical value can be freely adjusted, here, it is assumed that the range of the numerical value is 8 bits of 256 levels from 0 to 255, and the voltage output from the amplifier 102 when no force is applied is defined as 128 levels.

In FIG. 2, when a force is applied in the positive direction, the numerical value increases according to the force applied from the 128th level, and when a force is applied in the negative direction, the value is increased according to the force applied from the 128th level. The value is configured to decrease.

3. Step S4 In step S4, the data as the operation signal output from the A / D converter 103 is corrected by the correction circuit 104.

Since the output from the motion sensors 10 and 11 may not be output in proportion to the applied force in some cases, the correction data is stored in advance in the storage means 115 or the like, and the desired value is obtained by table lookup. It is realized by converting to

4. Step S5 In step S5, the information is temporarily stored in the memory 113,
The feature amount for recognition is calculated using the data of the unit.

5. Step S6 In step S6, a feature amount of data as an operation signal is extracted.

An example of a method of extracting the feature will be described.

FIG. 12 shows the input sensor device 1 of the first embodiment.
10 is attached to a finger and the finger is moved so as to draw a letter "te".

The black circles indicate the position of the input sensor device 110 at the time of sampling. T1 to T9 indicate the sampling time, and the time has elapsed from T1 to T9.

A method for obtaining the direction of the finger from the measured force will be described using T4 and T5.

The finger is moving from T4 to T5 so as to be diagonally lower left in the drawing. Input sensor device 11
The force applied to 0 is generated by the dynamic friction between the contact surface and the sensor, and is 180 degrees opposite to the direction in which the finger moves,
In this example, it is on the upper right of the drawing. The applied force is X axis, Y
Disassembled into axes and measured by the sensor 110. Each force is described as x4, y4.

As shown in FIG. 13, the direction of the applied force can be obtained by calculating the arc tangent from the measured y4 and x4 and adding π. This is described as D4.

In the manner described above, the traveling methods D1 to D8 from T1 to T8 are calculated. In this example, the number of sample points is nine for the sake of simplicity, but in practice, nearly ten times as many samples are measured.

Next, as shown in FIG. 14, an axis indicating the measurement time discretized into N equal parts and an axis indicating the traveling direction discretized into N equal parts are assumed, and a histogram thereof is created. I do. As a result, a two-dimensional matrix in which the frequency is a scalar amount can be generated. Since the number of samples fluctuates depending on the situation, a value obtained by normalizing the histogram is defined as a feature amount of input data.

6. Step S7 In step S7, data recognition is performed.

The recognition method will be described.

The input data is specified by comparing and evaluating how much the input data matches the data to be recognized. The data to be recognized is called a dictionary, and a pair of the feature amount data and the identifier is recorded in advance in the recording unit 115 which is a component of the present embodiment.

A measure indicating how similar the input data is to the dictionary data is called similarity, and it is considered that the larger the similarity is, the more similar two data are. Various methods have been proposed for calculating the similarity. In this embodiment, a subspace method that is resistant to fluctuations in input data is used.

In the subspace method, principal component analysis is performed on pre-given teacher data, a basis vector having a dimension smaller than the original dimension is obtained, and dictionary data is obtained. The similarity between the input data and the dictionary data is obtained as the length of the input data projected onto the dictionary data. Definitions of dictionaries and similarities including the subspace method are described in the document “Pattern recognition and subspace”, Sangyo Tosho, 1986, and “Pattern Recognition Theory”, Morikita Publishing, 1989.

(Effect of Using Data Conversion Device) As described above, the data conversion device 105
An arithmetic operation is performed on a signal from the wearable input sensor device 110 to determine a feature amount of the input data, and a similarity between the data and the dictionary data is calculated. It is possible to specify whether they are similar.

(Modification) In this embodiment, characters are to be recognized. However, by preparing a dictionary for recognition as needed, application to numbers, symbols, alphabets, kanji, and the like is easy.

Alternatively, specially defined characters can be used without any problem. In such a case, if the information processing apparatus is configured to execute a predetermined process, it can be used for gesture recognition.

Further, by providing a means for estimating the intention of the user in the information processing apparatus and appropriately changing the dictionary for recognition according to the purpose of the user, the accuracy of the recognition rate can be improved.

The data conversion device 105 can be realized as a program on an existing computer to which the input sensor device 110 is connected. Therefore, the present embodiment may have a form of a recording medium on which a program is recorded.

<Second Embodiment> Next, an input system composed of an input sensor device 210 and a data conversion device 205 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[Input Sensor Device 210] FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing an input sensor device 210 according to the second embodiment.

A description will be given of a portion different from the first embodiment.

Steps S11 to S14 are the same as steps S1 to S4 in the first embodiment.

In step S15, step S14
The data corrected in step (1) is stored in a recording unit 203 such as an EPROM or an SRAM.

In step S16, the data transmission instructing means 207 reads out the data held in the recording means 203 and transmits the data to the data conversion device 205 through the communication means 206. Then, the data in the memory is discarded according to the data erasing instruction.

The communication means 206 is an RS232C, US
B, SCSI, IEEE1394, infrared, BlueT
This is realized by "ooth" or the like.

Further, the data transmission instructing means 207 is not provided with a button on the input sensor device 110 itself, but is provided with the communication means 2
It may be a circuit that interprets the data transmission instruction received through the command line 06. The same applies to the data erasure instruction.

By recording not only sensor data but also other data, for example, date and time data, the data can be used as a key for classification of data input by the information processing apparatus.

[Data Converter 205] Next, a data converter 205 of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described.

In the first embodiment, the input sensor device 110
And the information processing apparatus as the data conversion apparatus 105 are connected via the interface 111.

However, in this embodiment, the input sensor device 2
10 and the data conversion device 205 are connected via the communication unit 211.

As described in the first embodiment, the communication means 211 may be either wired or wireless. The data transmission instruction can be realized either by a method provided on the input sensor device 110 or transmitted by a communication means in the information processing device.

The input data received through the communication means 211 is temporarily stored in the memory 213. When all the data is received, or when the received data is monitored and data indicating a data delimiter is found, the feature amount of the input data is calculated using a predetermined data unit.

According to the second embodiment described above, it is possible to easily perform data such as a memo, which does not require recognition in real time, at any place. The data is later converted to character data and reused. Can be facilitated.

<Third Embodiment> A third embodiment will be described.

In the above description, the sensor holding device is mounted on the fingertip. However, the same effect can be obtained by mounting the sensor holding device on a finger joint, elbow, knee, toe or the like.

Further, the sensor holding device is not attached to a part of the body, but is used as a nail, an artificial hand, an artificial leg, a ring, a bracelet,
The present embodiment exhibits the same effect even when worn so as to be incorporated in a watch, a bracelet, a pen, shoes, socks, slippers, gloves, gloves, elbows of clothes, and knees of pants.

In the case of a built-in type, the same effect can be obtained even if a contact sensor or a motion sensor is attached to the object itself without using a sensor holding device.

<Fourth Embodiment> A fourth embodiment will be described.

In the data conversion device 105 of the second embodiment, the signal from the input sensor device 110 is used for character recognition, but the value is used for another purpose, in this embodiment, for moving the cursor on the screen. It is possible.

For example, when the force in the positive direction of the X-axis is detected, it can be realized by changing the coordinate value of the cursor on the screen accordingly and drawing again. This embodiment is shown in FIG.
Can be configured as a program that operates on the information processing device.

Switching between character input and cursor movement instruction can be realized by selecting mode switching from a menu.

As described above, in this embodiment, not only character input but also cursor control is possible.

By further promoting this idea, the input device of this embodiment controls the cursor and measures a change in the position of the cursor.
Character recognition can be performed by the method described in the sixth embodiment.

<Fifth Embodiment> In a fifth embodiment, an input system including an input sensor device 410 and a data conversion device 405 for converting data input by the input sensor device 410 into character data will be described.

[Input Sensor Device 410] First, the input sensor device 410 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The input sensor device 410 is a wearable input device, and is used by being mounted on a user's fingertip as shown in FIG. The input sensor device 410 measures a change that occurs when the sensor surface of the sensor holding device 312 attached to the user's finger is brought into contact with or close to an arbitrary object and moves along the surface of the object. The value of the output signal is changed according to the degree.

The sensor holding device 312 includes:
A contact sensor 311 and a motion sensor are provided.

(Contact Sensor) As the contact sensor 311, a distance sensor using an LED and a photodiode is used. The amount of light emitted from the LED and reflected at the front of the target is converted into an electric signal, and the state with the target surface can be determined by comparing the electric signal with a comparator. Alternatively, a pressure-sensitive conductive rubber whose resistance value changes according to an applied force or a contact switch may be used.

The use of the contact sensor 311 in this way means that the operation time of the main body is shortened by constantly applying a charge to the motion sensor described later.

Since the force applied to the input sensor device 410 may be measured only when the input sensor device 410 is in contact with or in proximity to the target, the provision of the contact sensor 311 determines whether the input sensor device 410 is in contact with the target surface. However, only when the value of the contact sensor 311 indicates that a contact is made, by applying a current to the plate, the required electric power can be reduced, which leads to an increase in the operation time of the entire system.

(Motion Sensor) As a motion sensor whose output changes due to motion, an acceleration sensor or an optical sensor can be used.

(1) Acceleration Sensor First, the case where the acceleration sensor 310 is used will be described.

As the acceleration sensor 310, a semiconductor whose voltage changes when acceleration is applied, for example, a sensor such as ADXL202 manufactured by Analog Devices, Inc. is used. This sensor can measure two axes perpendicular to each other with one chip, and outputs conversion of acceleration as a change in voltage or a change in pulse width. When moved obliquely, voltages corresponding to the forces resolved in the X-axis and Y-axis directions are output from the respective amplifiers.

In this description, as shown in FIG. 18, the direction of the fingertip is defined as the Y axis, the direction orthogonal to the fingertip on the same plane as the surface of the object is defined as the X axis, and the direction orthogonal to the surface of the object is defined as the Z axis. I do. Also, the right, upper, and front directions in FIG. 18 are defined as positive directions, and the opposite directions are defined as negative directions.

FIG. 19 shows the arrangement of the acceleration sensor 310 and the contact sensor 311 on the sensor holding device 312. The acceleration sensor 31 is provided on the sensor holding device 312.
0, a contact sensor 311 and a peripheral circuit 313 such as an amplifier
Implement

The sensor holding device 312 includes the acceleration sensor 3
10, also serves as a board for wiring to the contact sensor 311 and the peripheral circuit 313, and is connected to the information processing device by a cable 314 or wirelessly. When the connection is made with the cable 314, it also serves as a power supply wiring. In the case of wireless communication, a battery is provided in the sensor holding device 312 or supplied separately.

FIG. 20 is a side view of the sensor holding device 312. The surface of the sensor holding device 312 is covered with a protective film 15 for the purpose of protecting the acceleration sensor 310 and the contact sensor 311.

The direction in which the acceleration sensor 310 is arranged is such that a force along the X-axis and Y-axis directions shown in FIG. 18 can be measured. In the description, a two-axis sensor is used, but a method of arranging two one-axis sensors so as to be orthogonal to each other may be considered.

Since the user's hand is not always stopped, it is considered that acceleration is always generated at the fingertip. For this reason, it is difficult to determine whether the input is performed or not. Therefore, by using the contact sensor, it is possible to distinguish whether the user is performing character input or performing other work.

In this case, threshold processing based on the number of samples,
By using information such as whether or not character input has been performed before that, it is possible to increase the accuracy of valid data determination.

An output signal from the input sensor device 410 is
A wireless connection is realized by transmitting the output signal as it is through AM and FM modulation as it is transmitted to other devices through a wire, and by transmitting A / D conversion and transmitting digital data. Is also possible. Since the input sensor device 410 has a low transmission speed and a short transmission distance, the input sensor device 410 can be easily reduced in size and mounted on the sensor holding device 312.

In this example, the contact sensor 311 and the acceleration sensor 310 are arranged on the same plane. However, if the acceleration sensor 310 is arranged so as to be parallel to and orthogonal to the contact surface, the sensor holding device 312 It can be arranged in any form.

(2) Optical Sensor Although the acceleration sensor 310 is used as a motion sensor in the above example, a method using an optical device will be described.

As an optical sensor, for example, an artificial retinal chip manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation can be used. Originally, this device has a function of outputting the motion of a subject as a motion vector. However, in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain a relative motion vector by moving the imaging unit.

Since the amount of light may be insufficient, LE
There is also a method of irradiating light with D or the like to compensate for the light amount. In this case, power consumption can be saved by irradiating the LED with the contact sensor.

In other words, the imaging unit moves due to the movement of the user, and since the target surface is stationary, it is equivalent to the movement of the input image, and the motion vector in the direction opposite to the body movement is calculated. It is possible to obtain.

(Effect of Using Input Sensor Device) As described above, the acceleration sensor 310 is arranged along the X axis and the Y axis.
The movement of the user along the X-axis and Y-axis directions can be measured as a change in the value of the corresponding acceleration sensor 310.
When applied in an oblique direction, the force is measured as a force separated in each of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

As described above, the sensor holding device 31
The input sensor device 410 that converts the movement of the body of the user wearing the device 2 into an electric signal can be realized.

[Data Conversion Device 405] Next, a data conversion device 405 for converting the output signal of the input sensor device 410 into character data will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Structure of Data Conversion Device) The data conversion device 405 is composed of the arithmetic means 112, the display means 116, the storage means 415, the memory 413, the input sensor device 410, the interface 411, and the bus 414 as shown in FIG. As a program on an information processing device to be executed.

The calculation means 412 is also called a CPU, and performs calculation according to a program recorded in a ROM or a hard disk in advance.

The memory 413 is used to temporarily hold programs and data necessary for calculation. In this embodiment, the memory 413 is also used to store data as operation signals from the input sensor device 410. You.

[0157] The storage means 415 is a hard disk or EP.
It is composed of a ROM or the like, and retains data even when power supply to the data conversion device 405 is interrupted. A program for operating the data converter 405 and dictionary data for recognition are held.

The display means 416 displays character data as a recognition result of the input data, trajectory data calculated from the input data, or a result of performing a predetermined operation according to the recognition result. It is composed of a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

The interface 411 is for working the data, which is the operation signal from the input sensor device 410, with the information processing device, and usually reads the value from the input sensor device 410 in response to a data read command from the arithmetic operation means 412. Output.

Each of the above-described modules is connected to the bus 414, and moves data between the modules according to a data read signal, a write signal, and an address signal.
In addition, a keyboard, a mouse, a voice recognition unit, a communication unit, and the like may be provided as input units.

[Signal Flow of Input System] FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a signal flow of an input sensor device 410 and a data conversion device 405. The amplifier 402,
The A / D conversion unit 403 is the input sensor device 410 of FIG.
Are included in the peripheral circuit 313.

1. Steps S1 and S2 In steps S1 and S2, the acceleration sensor 310 and the amplifier section 402 output a voltage corresponding to the applied force as described above.

2. Step S3 In step S3, the A / D converter 403 discretizes the output voltage of the amplifier 402 at a cycle corresponding to the frequency of the input clock, and converts the output voltage into a numerical signal. For example, if the frequency is 100 Hz, sampling is performed 100 times per second. Since the range of the numerical value can be freely adjusted, here, it is assumed that the range of the numerical value is 8 bits of 256 levels from 0 to 255, and the voltage output from the amplifier 102 when no force is applied is defined as 128 levels.

In FIG. 18, when a force is applied in the positive direction, the numerical value increases according to the force applied from the 128th level, and when a force is applied in the negative direction, the numerical value increases according to the force applied from the 128th level. The value is configured to decrease.

[0165] 3. Step S4 In step S4, the information is temporarily stored in the memory 413,
The feature amount for recognition is calculated using the data of the unit.

4. Step S5 In step S5, a feature amount of data as an operation signal is extracted. An example of a method for extracting the feature amount will be described.

As shown in FIG. 25, it is assumed that an axis indicating the measurement time is discretized into N equal parts and an axis indicating the direction is discretized into four equal parts (up, down, left, and right). The calculated value is added as a corresponding matrix element.
Thus, the sum of the measured values at each time is set as a scalar amount 2
A dimensional matrix can be generated.

In the present embodiment, a value obtained by normalizing the above two-dimensional vector is defined as a feature amount of the input data.

[0169] 5. Step S6 In step S6, data recognition is performed.

The recognition method is performed by comparing and evaluating how much the feature amount of the input data matches the data to be recognized. The data to be recognized is called a dictionary, and a pair of the feature amount data and the identifier is recorded in advance in the storage unit 415, which is a component of the present embodiment.

A measure indicating how similar the input data is to the dictionary data is called similarity, and it is considered that the larger the similarity, the more similar two data are. Various methods have been proposed for calculating the similarity. In this embodiment, a subspace method that is resistant to fluctuations in input data is used.

In the subspace method, principal component analysis is performed on pre-given teacher data, and basis vectors having dimensions smaller than the original dimensions are obtained as dictionary data. The similarity between the input data and the dictionary data is obtained as the length of the input data projected onto the dictionary data. Definitions of dictionaries and similarities including the subspace method are described in the document “Pattern recognition and subspace”, Sangyo Tosho, 1986, and “Pattern Recognition Theory”, Morikita Publishing, 1989.

In this embodiment, characters are to be recognized. However, by preparing a dictionary for recognition as needed, application to numbers, symbols, alphabets, kanji, and the like is easy.

Alternatively, specially defined characters can be used without any problem. In such a case, if the information processing apparatus is configured to execute a predetermined process, it can be used for gesture recognition.

Further, by providing a means for estimating the intention of the user in the information processing apparatus and appropriately changing the dictionary for recognition according to the purpose of the user, the accuracy of the recognition rate can be improved.

The data conversion device 405 can be realized as a program on an existing computer to which the input sensor device 410 is connected. Therefore, the present embodiment may have a form of a recording medium on which a program is recorded.

(Effects of Using Data Conversion Device) As described above, the data conversion device 405 performs an operation on a signal from the wearable input sensor device 410 to obtain a characteristic amount of the input data, and obtains the data. It is possible to calculate the degree of similarity between the input data and the dictionary data, and to specify which registered character the input data is most similar to.

<Sixth Embodiment> Next, an input system including an input sensor device 510 and a data conversion device 508 according to a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[Input Sensor Device 510] FIGS. 23 and 24
FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an input sensor device 510 according to a sixth embodiment.

A description will be given of parts different from the fifth embodiment.

Steps S11 to S13 are the same as steps S1 to S3 of the fifth embodiment.

In step S14, the AD-converted data is recorded in a storage unit 505 such as an EPROM or an SRAM.

At step S16, transmission instructing section 50
7 reads out the data stored in the storage unit 505 and transmits the data to the data conversion device 205 through the communication unit 506. Then, the data in the memory is discarded in accordance with the data deletion instruction received through the communication unit 506.

The communication unit 506 includes RS232C, USB,
SCSI, IEEE 1394, infrared, Blue To
for example.

The transmission instruction section 507 may be a circuit for interpreting a data transmission instruction received through the communication section 506 without providing a button on the input sensor device 510 itself. The same applies to the data erasure instruction.

Further, by recording together not only sensor data but also other data, for example, date and time data, the data can be used as a key for classification of data input by the information processing apparatus.

[Data Converter 508] Next, a data converter 508 according to the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Only parts different from the fifth embodiment will be described.

In the fifth embodiment, the input sensor device 410
And the information processing apparatus as the data conversion apparatus 405 are connected via the interface 411. However, in this embodiment, the input sensor device 510 and the data conversion device 5
08 is connected through the communication means 511.

Communication means 511 may be wired or wireless. The data transmission instruction is issued by the input sensor device 51.
It can also be realized by a method of providing the information on the communication device 0 or by transmitting the information through a communication unit in the information processing apparatus.

The input data received through the communication means 511 is temporarily stored in the memory 513. When all the data is received, or when the received data is monitored and data indicating a data delimiter is found, the feature amount of the input data is calculated using a predetermined data unit.

According to the sixth embodiment, data which does not require recognition in real time, such as a memo, can be easily performed at an arbitrary place. Can be facilitated.

[0193]

According to the present invention, since the input sensor device can be attached to a part of the body, for example, a fingertip, the size of the input device can be reduced as compared with the related art.

The input input device can be used to input characters simply by bringing the input sensor device into contact with an arbitrary object, for example, a surface of a wall, a desk, glass, a palm, a thigh, or the back of another person, and moving along the surface. There is no restriction on where to use it.

Further, since the input is performed by drawing a character on the surface of the object with a finger, the sensor can digitize the movement along the surface and realize the conversion to the character by the recognition means.
Learning the input method is easy.

Further, since it is possible to perform offline processing, it is possible to easily perform a memo or the like at an arbitrary place with the present invention, and to reuse the memo at an information processing apparatus at a later date. Become. Furthermore, since a power saving mechanism is provided, it can be used for a long time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a method of mounting an input sensor device on a body according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram relating to a definition of a direction when the input sensor device in FIG. 1 is mounted.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a sensor holding device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the sensor holding device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a first example of realizing a capacitance change type sensor.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are plan views showing a second example of realizing the capacitance change type sensor, in which FIG. 6A shows a state before overlapping and FIG.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are side views showing a second example of the implementation of the capacitance change type sensor, in which FIG. 7A shows a state before being overlapped, and FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a sensor holding device according to a sixth embodiment of the sensor.

FIG. 9 is a diagram in which a large number of sensors are arranged on a sensor holding device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a data conversion device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the flow of an input sensor device and a data conversion device.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a relationship between body movement and sample points according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a relationship between two sample points and a formula for calculating an angle.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a histogram of time and angle according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an input sensor device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an information processing device that realizes the data conversion device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a method of mounting the wearable interface of the fifth embodiment on the body.

FIG. 18 relates to the definition of the direction when the device of the fifth embodiment is mounted.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of the sensor holding device according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a side view of the sensor holding device according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus realized in a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram for implementing the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus for realizing a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram for implementing the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a histogram of a time and a movement direction according to the fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 11: motion sensor 12: sensor holding device 13: peripheral circuit 14: cable 15: protective film 16: contact sensor 20: fixing point 21: fixed point 21 …… Beam 22… Center plate 23… Fixed plate 30… Fixed plate 31… Movable plate 105… Data converter 110… Input sensor device

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An input sensor device in an input system for inputting predetermined meaningful data using a movement of a user's body, wherein the input sensor device is attached to a part of the user's body. And converts the movement of the body into a predetermined electrical operation signal and outputs the signal. The sensor holding device is provided on the sensor holding device, and the sensor holding device is provided on the sensor holding device. A motion sensor that changes an operation signal by bringing a contact surface of the device into or out of contact with an arbitrary object and moving the sensor holding device in a state of the contact or in proximity to the target, and an input sensor in the input system. apparatus. 2. The input sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit that transmits the operation signal to the input system or another information processing system. 3. The input sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor holding device is mounted on an object mounted on the body of the user so as to be mounted on the body. 4. A contact sensor for detecting whether a contact surface of the sensor holding device is in contact with or in proximity to the surface of the object, and detecting that the contact sensor is in contact with or in proximity to the surface of the object. 4. The input sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising: a drive determination unit configured to drive the motion sensor only when the movement is performed. 5. 5. The motion sensor according to claim 1, wherein the motion sensor is an acceleration sensor, an optical sensor, a capacitance change detection sensor, a pressure sensor, a strain sensor, or a combination of these sensors. Input sensor device. 6. The contact sensor according to claim 1, wherein the contact sensor is an acceleration sensor, an optical sensor, a capacitance change detection sensor, a pressure sensor, a switch, or a combination of these sensors and switches. The input sensor device as described in the above. 7. A data conversion device in an input system for inputting predetermined meaningful data using a movement of a user's body, wherein the data conversion device is an operation signal corresponding to the movement of the user's body. An operation signal characteristic amount calculation unit that calculates the characteristic amount of the operation signal, and a characteristic amount storage unit that records a storage characteristic amount corresponding to characters or control commands in advance. A similarity calculator that determines whether the operation signal feature calculated by the motion signal feature calculator is closer to the storage feature recorded by the feature storage; and a feature of the operation signal by the similarity calculator. And a recognizing unit for recognizing the storage feature determined to be close to the data to be data input by the user. 8. The data conversion device according to claim 7, further comprising a communication unit that receives the operation signal. 9. A mode switching unit for switching between a character input mode and a pointing mode, and a pointer position control unit for controlling an output position of a pointer screen in accordance with the operation signal when the mode switching unit is in a pointing mode. The data conversion device according to claim 6, further comprising: 10. A data conversion method in an input method for inputting predetermined meaningful data using a movement of a user's body, wherein the data conversion method includes an operation signal corresponding to the movement of the user's body. An operation signal characteristic amount calculating step of calculating a characteristic amount of the operation signal, and a characteristic amount storing step of recording a storage characteristic amount corresponding to a character or a control command in advance, A similarity calculation step of determining whether the operation signal feature amount calculated in the operation signal feature amount calculation step is close to the storage feature amount recorded in the feature amount storage step, and a feature amount of the operation signal by the similarity degree calculation step. And a recognition step of recognizing the storage feature amount determined to be close to the data input by the user. Kicking data conversion method. 11. A recording medium for recording a program for realizing a data conversion method in an input method for inputting predetermined meaningful data using a movement of a user's body,
This data conversion method is for recognizing the data based on an operation signal corresponding to the movement of the user's body, and includes an operation signal feature amount calculation function of calculating a feature amount of the operation signal; A feature value storage function for recording a storage feature value corresponding to the control instruction; and determining whether the operation signal feature value calculated by the operation signal feature value calculation function is close to the storage feature value recorded by the feature value storage function. A similarity calculation function; and a recognition function of recognizing, as the data input by the user, a storage feature determined to be close to the feature of the motion signal by the similarity calculation function. Recording medium for a program that implements a data conversion method in the method.