JP2002055781A - Information processor and method for controlling the same and computer readable memory - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor for realizing much more comfortable mouse emulation by using a touch panel, and for allowing a user to perform a touch panel input with a more natural touch and a method for controlling this device and a computer readable memory. SOLUTION: Plural instructed positions on a touch panel 102 are detected by a first contract point detection functioning part 103 and an additional contact point detection functioning part 104. Then, plural instructed positions and the respective prescribed information are recognized, and the recognized prescribed information and input signals are made correspond to each other by an area judgment functioning part 105 and a signal generation functioning part 106. Then, prescribed processing is performed by a computer 100 according to the corresponding input signals.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method for generating an input signal as an instruction of a processing operation by a finger or the like from a display screen. In particular, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that generates input signals for various operations equivalent to a mouse and some keyboard keys from a touch panel attached on a computer screen, a control method thereof, and a computer-readable memory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many types of devices (pointing devices) for instructing various processing contents on a screen with respect to the contents displayed on the screen have already been devised or put into practical use. For example, there are a mouse, a trackball, a touch pen, a touch panel, and the like. In the field of personal computers (so-called personal computers), mice are overwhelmingly popular.

[0003] The mouse moves the whole mouse horizontally by hand, displays the amount of movement by moving a figure such as a small arrow called a "pointer" on the screen, and clicks (presses, presses) the same mouse button. Release) to indicate the position of the operation target and the type of operation. There are usually one to three buttons, depending on the type of mouse.

On the other hand, in the fields of bank ATMs and railway passport issuing machines, a method of directly instructing by touching a touch panel attached to a screen displaying buttons to be operated with a finger or the like has become widespread. I have.

[0005] The touch panel is usually made of a transparent thin film, and is a device for attaching the touch panel to the surface of a screen and detecting a pressed position on the screen. In addition, it consists of an infrared light emitting device and its light receiving device attached to a screen frame or the like, and sometimes detects a screen touch without forming a thin film on the screen, but in any case, there is an image visible on the screen. The position of the operation target is input by directly touching the portion with a finger or the like. (Hereinafter, in any hardware configuration, an input means by directly pointing the screen with a finger or the like is referred to as a touch panel.) When comparing input using a mouse with input using a touch panel, the advantage of input using the touch panel is as follows. The following points are mentioned.

A1. An operation can be input by a natural action for humans, such as reaching for the operation target itself. On the other hand, in the case of a mouse, the screen to be instructed and the hand to instruct are large.

A2. You don't have to search for the location of the pointer so far, just point to where you want to operate directly. On the other hand, in the case of a mouse, it is necessary to first find a place where the pointer has been on the screen, and then determine the moving amount and direction.

A3. It does not require extra equipment such as a mouse or a mouse pad, is simple, and is suitable for miniaturization of equipment.

In other words, there is a clear advantage not only in that the input can be performed with a natural feeling of use and a stress-free operation feeling for humans, but also in that it can be incorporated into a mobile (portable) computer, which has been increasing in demand in recent years.

[0010] Nevertheless, touch panels are not widely used at present in fields such as personal computers.

At present, most application programs running on personal computers and the like assume a mouse as a pointing device, and unless a mouse is capable of performing all types of operations, operation using a touch panel can be widespread. Absent.

The following describes all types of mouse operations.

M1. Click (button press or release) operation independent of pointer movement M2. Pointer movement operation independent of click operation (button press or release) M3. In the above-described M2, a click operation using several types of buttons (such as a right button) is regarded as an operation on the touch panel as the following operation, whereby an operation almost equivalent to a mouse operation can be artificially created. (Hereinafter, creating a motion equivalent to a mouse in a simulated manner is referred to as “mouse emulation”.) When the screen changes from not touching the screen to touching it, the pointer moves to that position, And button click (press).

When a finger or the like is slid on the screen while touching the screen, it is regarded as pointer movement (hereinafter, referred to as dragging) in a button pressed state.

When the state changes from a state in which the user touches the screen to a state in which the button is released, it is regarded that the button is released.

However, the mouse emulation by the above method has the following disadvantages, and cannot perform all operations that can be performed with a mouse.

D1. It is not possible to discriminate between a pointer movement and a click D2. It is difficult to operate only by clicking without moving the pointer. D3. There is no distinction between buttons such as right button and left button. In order to solve these problems D1 to D3, the following inventions have been devised.

"Mouse input method on touch panel"
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 07-072976, it is determined that the touch panel is extended outside the image display range on the screen, and when a specific portion outside the display range is pressed, an input equivalent to a mouse click is made. However, with this method, although the above D1 to D3 can be solved, a part other than the place on the screen where the operation is desired (that is, the place where the pointer is located) is pressed, and the advantage of A1 cannot be obtained. .

In the "touch panel input device" (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-334295), a pressing area for a click is displayed at the moment when a finger is released, and when the area is pressed, it is interpreted as a click operation. ing. However, although this method also solves the above D1 to D3, even if the user does not intend to click, if the user releases his finger, the pressed area is displayed, which is unnatural. Further, the display of the pressed area hides the display below the pressed area, so that the operational feeling is significantly impaired.

In the "touch panel input method" (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-022330), the strength of pressing the touch panel is used as information, and the operation only for movement, the click operation, and the click operation with another button are distinguished. I have. However, although this method also solves the above D1 to D3, it is difficult for humans to control, and since the pressing strength is used for discriminating the operation, the user must be pressed carefully.

A "touch panel device" (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In Japanese Patent Application No. -282100), an operation such as a case where a finger is slightly tilted is detected by detecting a distribution of a pressing pressure. However, this method solves the above D3, but cannot solve the others. Also, tilting the finger to slightly move the center of the pressing pressure should be used only for delicate movement of the pointer, and it is inconvenient because it blocks convenient means for delicate movement of the pointer.

[0022]

As described above, the conventional method can solve the above-mentioned problems D1 to D3, but cannot give the user a natural feeling of use. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an information processing apparatus which realizes more comfortable mouse emulation using a touch panel and allows a user to input a touch panel with a more natural feeling of use, and an information processing apparatus therefor. It is an object to provide a control method and a computer-readable memory.

[0024]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object has the following arrangement.
That is, an information processing apparatus that generates an input signal via a touch panel, a detecting unit that detects a plurality of designated positions on the touch panel, a recognition unit that recognizes predetermined information at each of the plurality of designated positions, Corresponding means for associating the predetermined information recognized by the recognizing means with the input signal is provided, and performs predetermined processing according to the corresponding input signal.

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, an information processing apparatus that generates an input signal through a touch panel,
Detecting means for detecting that one or more positions on the touch panel are instructed; recognition means for recognizing predetermined information at each of the positions on the touch panel detected by the detecting means; and recognition by the recognizing means First correspondence means for associating the inputted predetermined information with the input signal, and a movement for judging whether or not the position 1 indicated on the touch panel has continuously moved on the touch panel within a predetermined time. Determining means, continuation determining means for determining whether or not the one position has been instructed for the predetermined time, and determining the correspondence according to a determination result of the movement determining means and a determination result of the continuation determining means. And a second correspondence unit that re-corresponds the input signal thus made to another input signal, and performs a predetermined process in accordance with the input signal corresponding to the second correspondence unit.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the basic functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic functional configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

Computer 100 and Display 10
Reference numeral 1 denotes a general computer operated by a mouse and a display device thereof, which is an example of an application form of the present invention, and is not a configuration required for the present invention.

The touch panel 102 is connected to the display 10
1, and outputs information on points touched by a finger or the like.

The first contact point detection function section 103 is a point where the first contact is made from a state where nothing is touching the touch panel 102 based on information from the touch panel 102 (hereinafter, referred to as a first contact point). And the presence / absence of a contact are detected, and information representing the presence / absence and the position is output.

Based on the information from the touch panel 102 and the first contact point detecting function unit 103, the additional touch point detecting function unit 104 is a point where a new contact is added in a state where there are already some contacts. It detects the position (hereinafter referred to as an additional contact point) and the presence / absence of the contact, and outputs information indicating the presence / absence and the position.

The area judging function unit 105 calculates the coordinates of the additional touch point detected by the additional touch point detecting function unit 104 and the coordinates of the first touch point detected by the first touch point detecting function unit 103. It is determined which mouse button operation corresponds to the presence / absence of the additional contact point.

The signal generation function unit 106 is based on the information of the first touch point detection function unit 103, the additional touch point detection function unit 104, and the area determination function unit 105, and outputs a signal indicating the pointer position or the pointer movement amount and a button press. The signal of is output.

With the above configuration, mouse emulation is executed by the following method.

First, there is a need for a method of instructing the pointer position in a method clearly separated from the click operation, or conversely, instructing the click operation in a method clearly separated from the pointer position. . This corresponds to D1, D described above.
This is for solving the second problem.

A basic method for this is to use the first contact point as an indication of a pointer position, and to use an additional contact point as an instruction to click a mouse button when there is an additional contact point. This is performed by the signal generation function unit 106 based on information from the first contact point detection function unit 103 and the additional contact point detection function unit 104.

Alternatively, when a point at a specific relative position from a point at which the finger is released within a predetermined time is touched within a state where the finger is released from the first contact point, the point is used as a click instruction. If any other point is touched, it is used as an indication of the pointer position. This is performed by the signal generation function unit 106 based on information from the first contact point detection function unit 103.

Alternatively, if the position of the first contact point moves within a predetermined time after the occurrence of the first contact point, it is used as a pointer position instruction, otherwise, it is used as a click instruction. This is performed by the signal generation function unit 106 based on information from the first contact point detection function unit 103.

Next, it is necessary to be able to determine from the operation of the click which button of the mouse it corresponds to.
This is to solve the problem of D3 described above.

In this method, it is determined whether or not the relative position of the contact point for the click instruction from the pointer position is included in a specific area corresponding to a specific mouse button. This determination is performed by the area determination function unit 105.

As described above, the above-mentioned problems D1 to D3 can be solved.

In order to realize the function of the additional contact point detecting function unit 104, it must be possible to detect that another contact point is pressed while the first contact point is pressed. This is difficult with a general touch panel because of the following problems. However, the present invention solves this as described below.

One problem is that some commonly used touch panels can generate only one set of coordinate values even when a plurality of points on the touch panel are touched at the same time. .

In such a touch panel, even if a plurality of locations are touched, only the average position can be reported, and an additional touch point cannot be detected.

However, according to the present invention, even in such a case, if the additional contact point is touched while the first contact point is still present, and is released again within a short time, the position of the point reported from the touch panel However, by capturing once from the position of the first contact point and almost returning to the original position, the movement of such a contact point is detected to detect an additional contact point.

The following is another problem. In a commonly used touch panel, the information indicating the pressed pressure at the point touched is not represented two-dimensionally as it is, and the distribution of the pressed pressure is represented by X (vertical).
The information projected in the axis and Y (horizontal) axis directions is output.

In such a touch panel, for example, when two obliquely arranged points are simultaneously touched, two pressure swells are detected on the X-axis and the Y-axis, respectively. It is not possible to determine which two of the points are actually pressed.

However, in the present invention, since the information that the first contact point is touched and then the additional contact point is touched is used as information instead of the simultaneous two contact points, the first first contact point is used.
The outputs of the XY axes for the contact point are stored, and when an additional contact point occurs later, the first contact point and the additional contact point are separated based on this information.

As described above, there is no need for an unnatural operation such as providing a special input area on the screen or designating a place irrelevant to the operation target and use a special touch panel. Instead, the problems of D1 to D3 are solved. [First Embodiment] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

In FIG. 2, reference numerals 300 to 309 indicate respective components, and S301 to S312 indicate respective signals.

The computer 300 has a display 301 as a display device, and sends a display signal S313 to the display 301. The display 301 may be of any type as long as it displays a display signal S313 such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display on a screen as an image.

The information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment is a notebook computer in which the computer 300 and the display 301 shown in FIG. 3 are integrated.

FIG. 3A is a side view of the notebook computer with the display unit 1602 opened, as viewed from the side. The display unit 1602 is a computer main body 160
It can be opened and closed by connecting it with a hinge.

Touch panel 302 and display 301
Are stored in the display unit 1602. The touch panel 302 is placed in close contact with or close to the surface of the display 301, and outputs that the surface is touched as a touch panel output signal S300 and a touch panel touch signal S301.

FIG. 3B shows the display section 1602 as viewed from the front. Reference numeral 1604 denotes a portion in which the display 301 and the touch panel 302 are overlapped and embedded. The touch panel kill switch 1605 is a switch attached to the periphery of the screen of the display unit 1602. When the touch panel kill switch 1605 is pressed,
Touch panel 302 does not emit any signal. When the touch panel kill switch 1605 is further pressed, the touch panel 302 returns to a mode for emitting a signal.

The display section 1602 can be fixed by a foldable fixing member 1603 so as not to become unstable when operating a touch panel or the like. In the first embodiment, this member is fixed by bringing it into contact with a desk or the like on which the computer main body 1601 is installed.
The computer main body 1601 itself may be fixed.

Note that the touch panel 302 is slightly larger than the displayable area of the display 301 in order to enable a plurality of points to be described later.

There are various types of touch panel output signals depending on the type of touch panel used. Here, it is assumed that at least the following two signals are included. One is a touch panel XY coordinate signal S300, which is a signal related to the pressure gravitational center position XY coordinate of the area pressed on the touch panel. The other is touch panel touch signal S3
01, which is a signal indicating whether or not the touch panel is pressed (touched).

When two points on the touch panel 302 are pressed at the same time, the touch panel XY coordinate signal S300 becomes
This is a signal representing the center of approximately two places.

The interface function unit 309 includes a contact information generation unit 303, a contact state determination unit 304, a pointer coordinate storage unit 306, a timer 307, and a mouse emulation unit 308, and converts signals from the touch panel 302 into the following signals. Output to the computer 300.

Left button depressed signal S310 Right button depressed signal S311 Pointer movement XY signal S312 The left mouse button and the right mouse button are used for emulation, but emulation of the middle mouse button is also possible. is there.

The computer 300 receives the left button pressing signal S310, the right button pressing signal S311 and the pointer movement amount XY signal S312, and executes the application program running on the computer 300 in the same manner as the signal from the actual mouse. And the like, button press information, pointer position coordinates, pointer movement, and the like are notified.

Here, the hardware configuration of the interface function unit 309 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the interface function unit according to the first embodiment.

The hardware of the interface function unit 309 is configured by being mounted in the computer main body 1601 or the display unit 1602.

The input port 400 receives a touch panel XY coordinate signal S300 and a touch panel touch signal S301.
And sends those signals to the bus 405 upon request.

A program for executing the processing of the contact information generation unit 303, the contact state determination unit 304, and the mouse emulation unit 308 in FIG.

The CPU 403 has an input port 400, an RO
M401, RAM 402, output port 404, bus 40
5 and a timer 406, execute a program on the ROM 401, and output a left button pressing signal S 31 to the output port 404 based on information from the input port 400.
0, right button pressed signal S311 and pointer movement amount X
The Y signal S312 is output.

The output port 404 is connected to the computer 300
The connection is made via a general mouse connection connector such as a PS / 2 connector.

The RAM 402 is used as a storage unit for temporarily storing various data when the CPU 403 executes a program, and as a storage unit for data from the pointer coordinate storage unit 306.

The timer 406 sends the elapsed time from the time instructed by the CPU 403 to the bus 405 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 403.

Here, the program is fixedly stored in the ROM 401, but it is also possible to store the program on a magnetic disk or the like and load it into the RAM 402 prior to execution and execute it. Also, the CPU 40
3. The ROM 401 and the RAM 402 are also mounted in the computer 300 as interface circuits, not separately from the computer 300.
It is also possible to use the CPU, ROM, and RAM in 00.

Of the above-described device configurations, the core part of the present invention is mounted on the interface function unit 30.
9 and its operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

The contact information generation unit 303 is provided with the input port 40
Touch panel XY coordinate signal S300 read from 0
And, the touch panel touch signal S301 is processed, and a contact presence / absence information signal S302 and a contact position XY coordinate signal S30
3 is generated. The contact presence / absence information signal S302 is the touch panel touch signal S301 itself. The touch position XY coordinate signal S303 is the touch panel XY coordinate signal S300.
Is generated by converting the coordinate values on the touch panel sent as “?” Into the screen coordinates of the computer 300.

Next, the processing executed by the contact state determination unit 304 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the contact state determination unit according to the first embodiment.

In step S501, the initial position of the pointer is written in the pointer coordinate storage unit 306. As will be described later, the pointer coordinates stored in the computer 300 and the coordinates written in the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 do not always match, but here, the value of the pointer coordinates used when the computer 300 starts up, for example, The position coordinates at the center of the screen are fixedly written.

The processing from step S503 to step S516 is repeated after the time delay given by step S517.

In step S503, it is determined whether or not a contact has been made in the previous process. Whether there is contact
This is performed based on the contact information signal S302 read last time. When the same process is executed for the first time, the process is performed on the assumption that there was no previous contact.

When there is no previous contact (step S50)
(YES in 3) proceeds to step S504, reads the current contact presence / absence information signal S302, and determines whether there is a current contact.

If there is no contact this time (NO in step S504), after the process in step S517, the process proceeds to step S50.
Return to 3.

On the other hand, if there is a current contact (step S5)
04 (YES), the process proceeds to step S505. Step S
In 505, the contact position XY coordinate signal S303 is read, and the value is written in the pointer coordinate storage unit 306. Next, in step S506, a contact interrupt signal S304 is generated, and after the processing in step S517, step S503 is performed.
Return to

In step S503, if there is a previous contact (YES in step S503), step S5
The process proceeds to 07, and it is determined whether or not there is a contact this time, as in the process in step S504.

If there is no contact this time (NO in step S507), the flow advances to step S508 to make contactless interrupt signal S3
05 is generated, and the process returns to step S503 after the process of step S517.

On the other hand, if there is a current contact (step S5)
07, YES), the process proceeds to step S509, and the contact position X
The Y coordinate signal S303 is read, and the read contact position X is read.
The relative positional relationship between the Y coordinate signal S303 and the coordinates stored in the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 is checked, and it is determined whether the movement amount is other than zero or larger than a predetermined value.

In step S509, when the moving amount is zero, no processing is performed, and after the processing in step S517, the process returns to step S503.

If the moving amount is smaller than the predetermined value in step S509, the process proceeds to step S510, and the contact position XY coordinate signal S303 read out in step S509.
Is written into the pointer coordinate storage unit 306. Next, in step S511, a contact interruption signal S304 is generated, and after the processing in step S517, the process returns to step S503.

If it is determined in step S509 that the movement amount is larger than the predetermined value, the flow advances to step S512 to determine whether the movement is a movement of a point that originally touched, or touched another point while touching the point. Is determined, that is, whether or not it is another point contact.

Here, referring to FIG. 6 and FIG.
Details of the determination processing in 512 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the details of the process in step S512 of the first embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing values used in the process in FIG.

In step S701, the current pointer coordinate storage unit 306 is read and stored in the array variable X.
Stored in [0]. (The value in [] is a suffix for specifying an element of the array starting from 0.) The contents of the array variable X [] are actually a vector composed of two XY coordinate values.

Next, in step S702, this time the contact position XY coordinate signal S3 read in step S509
03 is stored in an array variable X [1].

In step S703, the distance from X [0], which is the coordinate value before the start of movement, is set to M [i] by | X [1] −
Write a value with X [0] | (| | represents the absolute value of the vector).

Note that this value is shown in FIG. 6 at the measurement point 601.

In FIG. 6, the vertical axis indicates the distance (the value of the array variable X []), and the horizontal axis indicates the time at which the distance was read. The measurement point 600 in the figure indicates the value of M [0].

Next, in step S704, the array subscript variable i is set to 2 in order to record the change in distance with time.

In step S705, it is determined whether or not the array subscript variable i is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value.

When i is equal to or less than a predetermined value (step S70)
5 is YES), the process proceeds to step S706, and the predetermined time T1
Wait until elapses. Next, in step S707, the current contact position XY coordinate signal S303 is stored in the array variable X [i]. In step S708, the distance M [i] of the coordinates read in step S707 from X [0], which is the coordinate value before the start of movement, is | X [i] -X
[1] Write the value of |.

Examples of distances obtained by repeating the processing from step S705 to step S708 are measurement points 602 and 603 shown in FIG.

In step S709, the following equation is used.
It is determined whether or not the direction of change in the distance has been reversed.

(M [i] −M [i−1]) × (M [i−
1] −M [i−2]) ≦ 0 If the above expression is true, the distance goes away from zero once,
In addition, it can be predicted that there is a possibility of starting to move toward zero.

If the determination is false in step S709 (NO in step S709), the pointer moves in the direction to move away, so the process returns to step S705.

If i is larger than the predetermined value in step S705 (NO in step S705), it is determined that the moving direction does not attempt to return to the original direction even if the predetermined number of measurements are continued, and step S710 is performed. Then, it is determined that the current movement of the contact position is not because a point different from the point touched so far has been touched (there is no other point contact), and the process is terminated.

While repeating the processing of steps S705 to 709 a predetermined number of times or less, in step S709
If it is determined that the moving direction of the distance has been reversed (YES in step S709), the process proceeds to step S711.

In the example of FIG. 6, when i = 3, the measurement point 6
03 has begun to proceed in the opposite direction to that,
At this point, the process proceeds to step S711.

In step S711, step S707
The distance M [i-1] measured at is regarded as the movement to the farthest position, and the value is stored in the variable P.

In the example of FIG. 6, the value on the vertical axis of the measurement point 602 is P.

At the same time, relative coordinates D = X [i−1] −X [1] at the farthest position from the X [1] are stored for the subsequent contact point main discrimination processing. . Here, D is a vector having XY coordinates.

In step S712, it is determined whether the value of P is within a certain range. If the value of P is not within the certain range (NO in step S712), the process proceeds to step S713, where the contact with another finger is too far or too close. To end.

In FIG. 6, the lower limit of this range of P is
5, the upper limit is displayed as the distance 606. In the example of FIG. 6, the value of P (the value of the vertical axis of the measurement point 602) falls within these upper and lower limits, so that the processing shifts from step S712 to step S714.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S712 that the value of P is within a certain range (YE in step S712).
S), the process proceeds to step S714, and waits until a predetermined time T2 elapses. Next, in step S715, the distance from X [0] of the current touch position XY coordinate signal S303 is stored in a variable R.

In step S716, it is determined whether or not the value of R is within a certain range. Here, it is determined whether or not the absolute value of R is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

If the distance is within a certain range (step S716)
Then, the process proceeds to step S718, where it is determined that there is another point contact, and the process ends. In this case, it means that the contact position XY coordinate signal S303 generated by the contact information generating unit 303 has moved for a short period of time and then returned to the original place. In this manner, even if the touch panel is capable of outputting only one coordinate value when touched at two places at the same time, such as the touch panel 302 according to the first embodiment, the touch at the second place can be detected. it can.

On the other hand, if it is not within the predetermined range, step S
The process proceeds to 717, where it is determined that there is no other point contact, and the process ends.

FIG. 6 illustrates the determination range of step S716 as a coordinate value 607 and a coordinate value 608.
The measurement point in step S715 is illustrated as the measurement point 604. In this example, since the value of the vertical axis of the measurement point 604 is included in the coordinate value 607 and the coordinate value 608, the determination in step S716 is true, the process proceeds to step S718, it is determined that there is another point contact, and the processing is performed. To end.

In the above description, M [] is described as the distance. However, in order to speed up the processing, the X component of the movement amount from the point X [0] and the absolute value of the Y component are calculated. It may be sum.

As described above, it is determined whether or not the point is another point contact point.

Returning to the description of FIG.

If it is determined in step S512 that the contact is not at another point (NO in step S512), step S514 is performed.
Then, the current contact position XY coordinate signal S303 is read and written to the pointer coordinate storage unit 306. next,
In step S515, a movement interrupt signal S306 is generated, and after the process in step S517, the process returns to step S503.

If it is determined in step S512 that the contact is another point contact (YES in step S512), step S51 is performed.
Proceeding to step 3, it is determined whether or not the vector value of D recorded in the process of step S711 is in a specific area.

An example of the determination method will be described with reference to FIG.

The diagram shown in FIG. 8 is called an area pattern. This is a numerical description of a plurality of graphic regions arranged on the XY plane. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that rectangular areas indicated by reference numerals 801 and 802 in the figure are arranged, and their positions and sizes are recorded.

Here, the X component and the Y component of the vector D are plotted on this XY plane, and it is determined which region the vector D is included in.

From the above description, the origin of the area pattern on the XY plane corresponds to the place where the original finger touches before contacting the other point. In the first embodiment,
It is assumed that the first contact is made with the index finger of the right hand, and in this state, the areas that are likely to be touched by the middle finger or the ring finger are determined as rectangular areas 801 and 802 as shown in the figure. Also,
It is determined that contact with the middle finger area 801 corresponds to a mouse right button operation.

In the first embodiment, since the middle button of the mouse is not emulated, the ring area 802 is not used. However, in the case of the three-button mouse emulation, this area is also used.

Each area can be formed in a shape other than a rectangle such as an ellipse.

Further, a plurality of areas can be associated with one button operation. This enables a finger in the opposite direction to be used, for example, when the touch panel is insufficient in one direction in an operation around the screen.

In step S513, when the vector D is within the area corresponding to the button operation as described above,
Proceed to step S516.

At step S516, step S513
The other point contact interrupt signal S308 of the button determined to be applicable is generated, and after the processing of step S517. The process returns to step S503.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S513 that the vector D is not within the area where the corresponding button is located, the processing in steps S514, S515, and S517 is performed, and the flow returns to step S503.

The description of the processing of the contact state determination unit 304 has been completed, and the processing of the mouse emulation unit 308 will now be described.

The mouse emulation unit 308 is connected to the timer 307 and the pointer coordinate storage unit 306.

The mouse emulation unit 308 can read the value of the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 at any time. Further, the timer 307 is instructed to generate the time lapse interrupt signal S307 after a desired fixed time and to stop the timer count. Computer 3
In response to 00, a left button pressed signal S310, a right button pressed signal S311 and a pointer movement XY signal 312 can be output.

The mouse emulation unit 308 is provided in FIG.
According to the state transition table shown in FIG. 7, the contact state determination unit 304 and the timer 307 generate a contact interruption signal S304, a non-contact interruption signal S305, a movement interruption signal S306, a different point contact interruption signal S308, and a time elapsed interruption signal. The operation is performed upon detecting S307.

Hereinafter, the operation of the mouse emulation unit 308 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 shows an initial operation (not shown). This is an operation of matching the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 with the pointer position stored in the computer 300, as described in step S501 of FIG.

This is because the mouse emulation unit 308
However, if the pointer coordinates held by the computer 300 can be directly read out, it can be realized by writing the value into the pointer coordinate storage unit 306. However, in the first embodiment, since the data transfer between the interface function unit 309 and the computer 300 is one-sided and information from the computer 300 cannot be read, it is performed by any of the following methods.

One method is to simply write the coordinates of a specific point on the screen in the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 in a fixed manner. Depending on the computer system, the pointer is usually at a specific position at startup. For example, since the pointer position is often located at the center of the screen, this specific position is defined as the center of the screen, and the coordinate value corresponding to this particular position is
This is a method of writing in step S501.
In this case, the mouse emulation unit 308 does nothing.

Another method is as follows.
Is a method of sending a pointer movement amount XY signal S312 to the computer 300 so that the pointer position held by the pointer becomes a specific point. In an ordinary computer, the moving amount of the mouse is added to the current pointer position, and when the position exceeds the screen area, the coordinates in the direction beyond the screen area are fixed to the coordinates representing the screen area end point in that direction. Therefore, for example, in order to move the pointer coordinates held by the computer 300 to a point represented by the coordinates (0, 0) at the upper left corner of the screen, the pointer movement amount XY signal S312) is sufficiently large. In this method, the amount of movement in the upper left direction is output, and thereafter, the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 is read, and the amount of movement to that point is output as the pointer movement amount XY signal S312.

Thereafter, the mouse emulation unit 308
Operate according to the state transition table of FIG.

The current state of the mouse emulation unit 308 is considered separately based on the immediately preceding interruption state into a non-operation state 201, a movement determination state 202, a pointer movement state 203, a drag state 204, and a nearby click determination state 205. The meaning of each state is described below.

The non-operation state 201 is an initial state or a state that is taken when the touch panel 302 has never been touched for a certain period of time, and is a state in which it is considered that there is no operation by the user.

[0144] The movement determination state 202
This state is taken within a certain period of time immediately after the contact has occurred, from the state where there was no contact with 2, and whether the user instructed to move or click the pointer by the next operation that occurs within the certain period of time. This is a state where it takes time to perform the process of determining whether or not to perform the determination.

[0145] The pointer movement state 203 is a state that is taken when the touch panel 302 is in contact with the touch panel 302 and the point of contact is moving or standing still and the operation of only moving the pointer is performed.

[0146] The drag state 204 is a state in which the user keeps touching the touch panel 302 while performing the button pressing operation, and the pointer is moved or stopped and the pointer moving operation is performed while the button pressing signal is output. It is in a state to be taken.

The neighborhood click determination state 205 is a state within a certain period of time immediately after the contact has disappeared from the state where the touch on the touch panel 302 has been made. Alternatively, it is a state in which it takes time to perform a process of determining whether there is no operation.

The interrupt signal names 211 to 215 shown in FIG. 9 are respectively a contact interrupt signal S304, a non-contact interrupt signal S305, a moving interrupt signal S306, a different point contact interrupt signal S308, and a time elapsed interrupt signal. Signal S307.

The mouse emulation unit 308 is in the non-operation state 201 at the time of activation.

In the non-operation state 201, the contact interruption signal S30
In the case of receiving No. 4, after performing the pointer moving work and the timer setting, the state is changed to the moving judgment state 202. In the timer set here, a predetermined fixed time suitable for the movement determination state is set.

The pointer moving operation is to read the value written in the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 and to calculate the difference between the value read from the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 when the previous pointer movement amount XY signal S312 was generated and the pointer movement amount. X
This is to output it as a Y signal S312.

The timer setting is to set the timer 307 so as to generate the time lapse interrupt signal S307 after a predetermined time. The actually set fixed time may be a predetermined time or may be set so that the user can change the setting.

In the movement determination state 202, the non-contact interrupt signal S
When receiving 305, the timer is stopped, the main button is pressed, the main button is released after a fixed short time, and the state is shifted to the near click determination state 205.

Stopping the timer is a work of stopping the time count of the timer 307 and invalidating the setting of the timer set.

The main button pressing operation is to turn on a button pressing signal which is determined in advance to be the most frequently used. Since such a button is substantially a left button, the signal S310 while the left button is being pressed is turned on.

The main button releasing operation is to turn off the signal during pressing of the button which is determined in advance to be the most frequently used. Since such a button is substantially a left button, the signal S310 while the left button is being pressed is turned off.

In the movement judgment state 202, the movement interruption signal S3
When receiving 06, the timer is stopped, the pointer is moved, and the state moves to the pointer moving state 203.

When the other point contact interruption signal S308 is received in the movement determination state 202, the timer is stopped, the button corresponding to the interruption is pressed, and the state shifts to the drag state 204.

In the present embodiment, the only button to be emulated at the other point contact is the right button. Therefore, the operation of pressing the button corresponding to the other point contact interruption is to turn on the right button pressing signal S311. Become.

In the movement judgment state 202, when the time lapse interrupt signal S307 is received prior to another interrupt, the timer is stopped, the main button is pressed, and the drag state 20 is performed.
Move to 4.

When the non-contact interruption signal S305 is received in the pointer moving state 203, the timer is set, and the state shifts to the near click determination state 205. In this case, in the timer setting, a predetermined fixed time suitable for the near click movement determination state 205 is set.

In the pointer moving state 203, when a movement interrupt signal S306 is received, a pointer moving operation is performed, and the state is maintained in the pointer moving state 203.

When the other point contact interrupt signal S308 is received in the pointer moving state 203, a button corresponding to the interrupt is pressed, and the state shifts to the drag state 204.

In the drag state 204, the non-contact interrupt signal S
If 305 is received, release the pressed button,
The state shifts to the non-operation state 201.

The button release operation during pressing is to turn off the currently pressed left button pressing signal S310 or the right button pressing signal S311.

In the drag state 204, the movement interrupt signal S3
When receiving 06, the pointer is moved, and the state remains as the drag state 204.

When the other point contact interrupt signal S308 is received in the drag state 204, the operation of releasing the pressed button is performed, and the state shifts to the pointer moving state 203.

In the neighborhood click determination state 205, the pointer position at that time is read from the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 at that time, and the read pointer position is stored in the vector variable C.
To save.

When the contact interruption signal S304 is received in the near click determination state 205, the timer is stopped, and the following processing is performed.

First, the latest pointer position is read from the pointer coordinate storage unit 306, and is stored in the variable B as a vector. Further, the vector variable E is calculated as E = BC. Then, it is determined whether or not the vector E is included in a predetermined area as shown in FIG. This determination is the same as the method of determining whether the vector D is in the specific area described in step S512 of FIG. However, in this determination, since the contact of all the fingers is lost once, there is a possibility that the same finger can be touched again in almost the same place, and the determination region 8 set near the origin center for that purpose
03 is also used. Here, for simplicity of explanation,
Although description is made with reference to FIG. 8 for both the vectors D and E, the actually used area patterns are not necessarily the same in the two cases.

If it is determined that the vector E is in the determination area 803, the left button pressing signal S31
0 is turned on, and the state shifts to the drag state 204.

If it is determined that the vector E is in the determination area 801, the right button pressing signal S 311 is turned on, and the state shifts to the drag state 204.

When it is determined that the vector E does not fall in any of the areas, the pointer is moved and the timer is set, and the flow shifts to the movement determination state 202. In this case, in the timer set, a predetermined fixed time suitable for the movement determination state 202 is set.

In the vicinity click determination state 205, when the time lapse interrupt signal S307 is received, the timer is stopped and the state shifts to the non-operation state 201.

With the above method, all functions of a mouse having two buttons can be emulated based on the output of the touch panel 302. [Embodiment 2] Even when two or more points are touched at the same time, the touch panel 302 of Embodiment 1 generates only one set of XY coordinate values. For a short period of time. Embodiment 2
Then, from the information in which the pressing pressure from the touch panel is projected on the X axis and the Y axis, it is detected that the second touch point is touched while the first touch point is touched.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a touch panel 2 according to the second embodiment.
It is a figure showing the relationship between the press pressure and the contact point in the state which contacted the location.

The touch panel 901 shown in FIG.
This is a piezoelectric sensor type touch panel. This type of touch panel displays the distribution of the pressed pressure on the X (vertical) axis,
It can be detected as two one-dimensional distributions projected in the (horizontal) axial direction. In the figure, graphs 902 and 903 show examples of the pressure distribution in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively.

When pressure distributions such as 902 and 903 in FIG. 10 are observed, for example, a method is used in which a pressure center of gravity around a pressure peak in a region where a pressure is equal to or higher than a certain threshold is set as a pressing center. Knowing the positions of the two pressure rises on the axis (or the Y axis) can be easily realized by existing technology.

However, when it is intended to detect which two points on the touch panel are touched from these pieces of information, four possible candidate points are formed as shown by points 904 to 907 in FIG. . Therefore, generally, it is not possible to determine a combination of XY coordinates of two points. In the second embodiment, a position where one point is already touched and a second point is touched is detected.

The information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

In FIG. 11, 1000 to 100
6 indicates each component, and S1000 to S1006 indicate each signal.

The computer 1000 has a display 1001 as a display device, and sends a display signal S1001 to the display 1001.

The touch panel 1002 is connected to the display 1
001 is superimposed on or close to the surface of 001. From the touch panel 1002, a signal obtained by projecting the distribution of the pressing pressure when the surface is touched on the X (horizontal) axis and the Y (vertical) axis, for example, signals such as 902 and 903 in FIG. This is output as the pressing pressure distribution signal S1000.

The interface 1006 comprises a contact position tracking unit 1003, a pointer coordinate recording unit 1004, and a mouse emulation unit 1005. The interface 1006 processes the pressing pressure distribution signal S1000 and outputs the left button pressing signal S100.
3. Output the middle button pressed signal S1004, the right button pressed signal S1005, or the pointer coordinate XY signal S1006.

In the second embodiment, the mouse buttons to be emulated are a left button, a right button,
Emulates three middle buttons.

The interface 1006 is configured as hardware as shown in FIG. 4 described above, and the functions of the contact position tracking unit 1003 and the mouse emulation unit 1005 are stored in the ROM 401 as a program, as in the first embodiment. Be executed. The pointer coordinate storage unit 1004 is provided on the RAM 402.

The computer 1000 determines whether the left button depressed signal S1003, the middle button depressed signal S1004, the right button depressed signal S1005, and the pointer XY coordinates S10
06 and move the pointer or computer 1000
It notifies the application program running on the above of the button press information and the pointer position coordinates.

Next, in the contact position tracking section 1003, FIG.
The processing shown in the flowchart of 2 is executed. Hereinafter, FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing executed by the contact position tracking unit according to the second embodiment.

First, in step S1101, a depression pressure distribution signal S1000 for each of the X and Y axes is fetched. Examples of such signals are shown in FIGS. In each signal, only the X-axis pressure distribution is illustrated.

FIG. 13A shows a state where no point is touched, FIG. 13B shows a state where a point having an X coordinate of 1301 is touched, and FIG. 13C shows a state where two points having an X coordinate of 1302 and 1303 are touched. It is an example of the signal.

In step S1102, step S11
The X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the center position of the touched point are calculated from the depression pressure distribution of each axis taken in 01.

This is obtained by setting the pressure center of gravity in a region of a certain width centered on a pressure peak in a region where the pressure is equal to or higher than a certain threshold as a pressing center. In addition, the number of such pressure centers on the X axis and the Y axis is counted.

In step S1103, step S11
The number of contact points is calculated based on the number of pressure centers on the XY axes calculated in 02. As the number of contact points, the larger one of the number of pressure points on the X axis and the number of pressure points on the Y axis is defined as the number of contact points. Normally, these two numbers match, but if two points along one axis are touched, only one swelling of the pressure distribution projected on that axis occurs. Make a decision.

In the step S1104, it is determined whether or not the contact release waiting state flag is set. However, since it is not in the contact release waiting state in the initial state, the process proceeds to step S1105.

In step S1105, it is determined whether the result of the previous step S1103 is zero in the number of contact points. If it is zero (YE in step S1103)
S), and proceed to step S1106. On the other hand, if it is not zero (NO in step S1103), step S1110
Proceed to.

When step S1105 is executed first, there is no previous result, but this is regarded as zero and
Proceed to step S1106.

In step S1106, it is determined whether or not the result of the current step S1103 is zero in the number of contact points.

If it is zero (Y in step S1106)
ES) determines that nothing has been touched following the previous time, and after adding a certain time delay in step S1126,
It returns to step S1101.

On the other hand, if it is not zero in step S1106 (YES in step S1106), the flow advances to step S1107 to determine whether the current number of contact points is two or more. If it is 2 or more (step S1107)
In this method, since the two XY coordinates cannot be specified in the present method, the operation proceeds to step S1127 to ignore the operation.

In step S1127, a contact release waiting state flag is set, and a beep sound and a warning display are issued to inform the user of the contact release waiting state.

The subsequent processing from step S1101 to step S1103 is as described above.
In the determination at 1104, it is determined to proceed to step S1128.

At step S1128, at step S11
Step S until the number of contact points calculated in 03 becomes zero
It is determined that steps 1101 to 1104 are repeated, and when the contact point becomes 1 or less, the contact release waiting state flag is released in step S1129, and thereafter, the normal step S11
The processing of 01 to 1126 is repeated.

In step S1107, contact of less than two points
That is, in the case of contact at only one point (N in step S1107)
O), proceeding to step S1108, to step S1102
The X-coordinate and the Y-coordinate of the pressure center of gravity calculated in the above are written in the pointer coordinate recording unit 1004. Next, step S11
In step 09, a first point contact interrupt is generated, and step S1126 is performed.
After the processing of, the process returns to step S1101.

The description returns to the determination in step S1105. In step S1105, the previous step S110
If the number of contact points is not zero from the result of step 3 (step S
(YES in 1105), the process proceeds to step S1110, and it is determined whether or not the number of contact points calculated in step S1103 this time is different from the previous time, that is, whether or not a new point has been touched or released.

In step S1110, if there is a change in the number of contact points (YES in step S1110), the flow advances to step S1111 to calculate the difference between the current pressure distribution taken in step S1101 and the previous pressure distribution. By this operation, for example, if the previous pressure distribution is as shown in FIG. 13B and the current pressure distribution is as shown in FIG. 13C, the difference becomes as shown in FIG. 13D, and the pressure distribution newly contacted this time is extracted. be able to. Conversely, for example, if the previous pressure distribution is as shown in FIG. 13C and the current pressure distribution is as shown in FIG. 13B, the difference becomes as shown in FIG. Can be detected in the negative direction.

Next, in step S1112, it is determined whether or not the number of contact points calculated in this step S1103 has increased from the previous number.

If it has increased (YES in step S1112), the flow advances to step S1113 to calculate how many points have increased. This is obtained by a process similar to the method of steps S1102 and S1103 for the differential pressing pressure distribution as illustrated in FIG. 13D calculated in step S1111.

[0210] In step S1114, it is determined whether or not the number of increase points is 2 or more. If it is 2 or more (YES in step S1114), the number of contact points has increased by two or more at the same time. Since the coordinates of the two points cannot be determined by this method, the process proceeds to step S1127 until the contact point becomes zero. Do the waiting process.

On the other hand, in step S1114, when the increase score is less than 2 (N in step S1114)
O), that is, when only one point is increased, step S111
Proceeding to 5, it is determined which button press corresponds to the increased position of the contact point. This corresponds to step S111
Pointer coordinate recording unit 100 of the coordinates of the increment point obtained in step 3
The determination is made based on whether or not the relative coordinates from the coordinates recorded in No. 4 are in the specific area. The method of determining whether or not the user is in the specific area is determined by the step S shown in the first embodiment.
This is the same as the description of 512.

In step S1116, step S11
It is determined whether or not the relative coordinates of the increment point in 15 are in any of the regions. If it is not in any of the areas (NO in step S1116), the process proceeds to step S1127 without considering the button to be pressed, and waits until the contact point becomes zero.

On the other hand, if it is in any area (YES in step S1116), the flow advances to step S1117, and
The relative coordinates from the coordinates recorded in the pointer coordinate recording unit 1004 of the contact point increased this time are stored.

Next, in step S1118, another point contact interrupt is generated. There are three types of other-point contact interrupts: left, right, and middle buttons. In accordance with which button has been determined to have contacted the area corresponding to which button in step S1115, the other-point contact interrupt for the corresponding button has occurred. Occurs. Then, after the processing of step S1126, step S110
Return to 1.

The explanation returns to step S1112, and when the number of contact points does not increase (N in step S1112)
O), that is, if the pressure is decreased, the process proceeds to step S1119, and the difference pressing pressure distribution calculated in step S1111 as illustrated in FIG.
The same processing as in step 02 is performed to calculate the coordinates of the point where the contact was released. However, unlike the case of step S1102, the pressure is calculated with the sign inverted. Then, the relative coordinates of the released point from the coordinates recorded in the pointer coordinate recording unit 1004 are calculated, and the point having the coordinate value closest to the relative coordinate stored in step S1117 is regarded as released. The pointer position closer to (0, 0) than any of the relative coordinates stored in step S1117, that is,
If it is considered that the contact point indicating the current pointer position has been released, it is determined that the first point has been released.

In step S1120, step S11
It is determined whether the release point determined in step 19 is the first point of contact. If it is the first point (Y in step S1120)
ES), and the process proceeds to a step S1121 to generate a first point non-contact interrupt. In this state, since the reference contact point of the relative coordinates indicating the pointer position has disappeared, the process proceeds to step S1127, and a process of waiting until the contact point becomes zero is performed.

On the other hand, in step S1120, the first
If it is not a point (NO in step S1112), the flow advances to step S1122 to generate another point non-contact interruption of the button corresponding to the point determined in step S1119. Then, after the processing of step S1126, step S110
Return to 1.

The description returns to step S1110. If the number of contact points has not changed in step S1110 (NO in step S1110), step S1123
Proceed to. In this state, the touch panel is stationary or the contact points are slid on the touch panel without changing the number of touching points.

At step S1123, step S11 is executed.
02, based on the information on the pressing pressure center position coordinate calculated in step S023, the value of the number of contact points calculated in step S1103, and the relative position coordinate of the increasing point stored in step S1117.
The first contact point (steps S1108 to S110
The current coordinate value of the point corresponding to the point detected in step 9) is calculated. The first contact point represents a point currently touched when the touch panel changes from a state in which there is no contact with the touch panel to a state in which an object (for example, a finger) first contacts, and should always coincide with a point representing a pointer position. Is a point.

The details of the processing in step S1123 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, if the number of contact points calculated in step S1103 is 1, it is the first contact point, and the X and Y coordinates of the pressure center of gravity calculated in step S1102 are the first contact point coordinates. .

When the number of contact points calculated in step S1103 is 2 or more, the pressure distribution taken in in step S1101 is, for example, as shown in 1202 and 1203 in FIG. 14A. Here, for the sake of explanation, three points, 1207, 1205, 1206 on the touch panel (1201) are described.
Suppose you are touching

In such a state, step S1102
The pressing pressure center position coordinates calculated by
It is calculated as each X coordinate of 10, 1211 and 1212 and each Y coordinate of 1213 and 1214. At this time, there are a total of six points that may be touched (hereinafter referred to as contact candidate points) from 1204 to 1209, and to determine which of these points is the first contact point, Step S1
The following method is performed using the incremental point relative position coordinates stored in step 117.

The increment point relative position coordinates stored in step S1117 are to be described as coordinates with the first contact point as the origin, as shown in FIG. 14B. Figure 1
4B illustrates points 1220 and 1221 as the relative positions of the increasing points when two points other than the first contact point are touched.

This origin position is applied to any of the above contact candidate points, and a point obtained by adding the increase point relative position coordinates to this contact candidate point is set as an increase point candidate position. In FIG. 14A,
The increase point candidate positions when the contact candidate point is 1207 are illustrated as points 1222 and 1223.

For each of the increase point candidate positions, the distance from the increase point candidate position to the closest contact candidate point is calculated, and the respective distances are added to obtain the total distance. In the case of the example of FIG. 14A, the sum of distances = (distance between points 1222 and 1205) + (point 12
23,1206 questions). Note that the distance may be calculated not simply by the square root of the sum of squares of the difference between the X coordinate and the Y coordinate, but by a simple sum of the differences.

The sum of the distances is sequentially calculated while assigning the origin position to each of the contact candidate points, and the origin position at which the sum of the distances is minimum is calculated. The coordinates of the contact candidate point used when the total distance is minimized are the first contact point coordinates.

As described above, step S1123 is performed.
After calculating the current coordinates of the first contact point, the process advances to step S1124 to write the coordinates to the pointer coordinate recording unit 1004. Next, in step S1125, a movement interrupt is generated. After the processing in step S1126, the process returns to step S1101.

Next, the mouse emulation unit 1005
Will be described with reference to the state transition diagram of FIG.

The state is a non-operation state in which no point is touched on the touch panel. A pointer movement state in which only 1111 points are touched on the touch panel. A state in which more than 2222 points are touched on the touch panel. Consider state 1403.

The initial state is the non-operation state 1401.
In each of these states, upon receiving various interrupts from the contact position tracking unit 1003, the following operation is performed.

If the first point contact interrupt (interrupt generated in step S1109) is detected in the non-operation state 1401,
The pointer is moved, and the state shifts to the pointer moving state 1402.

The pointer moving operation is to read the current pointer coordinates from the pointer coordinate recording unit 1004 and to output them as the pointer coordinate XY signal S1006 to the output port 494.

If the first point non-contact interruption (the interruption generated in step S1121) is detected in the pointer moving state 1402, the flow shifts to the non-operation state 1401.

When a movement interrupt (interrupt generated in step S1125) is detected in the pointer movement state 1402, the pointer movement operation is performed and the pointer movement state 14
Stay at 02.

When another point contact interruption (interruption generated in step S1118) is detected in the pointer moving state 1402, the operation of pressing this button is performed, and the flow shifts to the drag state 1403.

In the second embodiment, the other point contact interruption is
Since there are three types of interrupts corresponding to pressing the left, right, and middle buttons, this button pressing operation is performed by pressing a button corresponding to the type of interrupt, that is, a left button pressing signal S1003 and a middle button pressing button Either the signal S1004 or the right button pressed signal S1005 is output to the output port 404.

If the first point non-contact interruption is detected in the drag state 1403, the operation of releasing the pressed button is performed, and the state shifts to the non-operation state 1401.

[0239] The pressed button release operation is to release the pressed signal of all the buttons which are output as being pressed.

When a movement interrupt is detected in the drag state 1403, the pointer is moved, and the operation stays in the drag state 1403.

If another point contact interruption is detected in the drag state 1403, this button press operation is performed, and the operation remains in the drag state 1403.

Similarly, when another point non-contact interruption (interrupt generated in step S1122) is detected in the drag state 1403, the release operation of this button is performed, and if there is no button pressed as a result, the non-operation state 1401 is reached. Then, if the pressed button still remains, the drag state 1403 is maintained.

In the second embodiment, there are three types of non-contact non-contact interrupts corresponding to pressing of the left, right, and middle buttons. , That is, the left button pressing signal S100
3. Either the middle button pressed signal S1004 or the right button pressed signal S1005 is released.

As described above, it is possible to emulate all mouse operations. [Third Embodiment] An information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment uses information of another point contact on the touch panel as press information of a keyboard instead of a mouse button. Here, a Shift key is used as a key on such a keyboard.

An information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment is similar to the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.
In this information processing apparatus, input from the following keys is further enabled. However, both information processing apparatuses have the same configuration, and the functions of FIG. 11 are implemented as hardware of FIG.

However, the mouse emulation unit 1005
Outputs the Shift key pressed signal S1007, and the computer 1000 performs the same operation as when the Shift key on the keyboard is pressed while the signal is being output.

[0247] The contact position tracking unit 1003 sets the specific area used in the processing of step S1115 as:
The area corresponding to the Shift key press (for example, 8 in FIG. 8)
Also, the other-point contact interrupt or the other-point non-contact interrupt is generated by using the toe-finger area of No. 04.

In the mouse emulation unit 1005,
If an interrupt corresponding to the Shift key is detected, the shift key pressed signal S1007 is output or the output is canceled.

In this manner, key operations that can be pressed simultaneously with the pressing of the mouse button can be performed only on the touch panel.

In this example, the Shift key is cited as the key type of the keyboard, but the Ctrl key Alt
It is also possible to generate a press signal together with another key such as a key. [Fourth Embodiment] The information processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment is different from the information processing apparatus according to the first to third embodiments in a contact area determination process when another point is touched, specifically, step S51 in FIG.
2, Step S711 in FIG. 7 and Step S1 in FIG.
The method for setting the area used in step 115 is changed. Other processes are the same as those already described.

In the above-described contact area determination processing, determination is made based on a predetermined area as illustrated in FIG. 8, but in the fourth embodiment, such an area pattern is generated by user input. Is what you do.

An example of the generation method will be described below. This generation is performed separately from the mouse and key emulation operations described in the first to third embodiments, and these emulation operations are performed in the contact determination area. It has only the relation of generating and referencing the area pattern to be used.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a contact area pattern input window used in the fourth embodiment. This corresponds to the computer display (301 in FIG. 2, 100 in FIG. 11).
1) Displayed above.

In the figure, reference numeral 1501 designates the entire contact area pattern input window, in which a user instruction sentence 1502 is provided.
And the pointer designated point 1503 are displayed.

The user-instructed sentence 1502 is a document character string for instructing the user to perform an input operation, and displays different sentences depending on the type of operation. In the example of FIG. 16, the contact of the finger corresponding to the right button operation is urged, but in addition, a sentence prompting the contact of the finger corresponding to the left button, the middle button, the Shift key, and the case where the operation is erroneous. Contains warning text.

The pointer designated point 1503 is a small mark (a circle in this example) displayed in the window.

The user follows the user instruction sentence 1502,
First, when it is detected that the vicinity of the pointer designated point 1503 has been touched, that point is set as a first contact point (not shown).

As in the touch panel 1002 of the second embodiment, when the pressure distribution when two points are touched at the same time can be output, when the user touches two points at the same time by the above operation, the four points are touched as described above. Although it is logically unknown which two of the candidate points have been touched, in this case, the candidate point closest to the pointer designated point 1503 is set as the first contact point. In this case, a candidate point diagonally opposite to the candidate point is regarded as a second contact point.

When the first contact point is detected, it is determined whether or not the point is sufficiently close to the pointer designated point 1503. If it is determined that the user is separated by a certain distance or more, a beep sound is output, and a user instruction sentence 1502 is used to notify the user of the pointer pointing point accurately, and the process is repeated.

Subsequently, when the touch panel is touched with a finger corresponding to a specific button or a specific key operation, that point is detected as a second contact point. The method of detecting a contact position when one point is already in contact with another point is the same as the method described in the first or second embodiment.

Next, the relative coordinates of the second contact point viewed from the first contact point are calculated and stored. The above operation is repeated several times to obtain several relative coordinates of the second contact point. From these several relative coordinates, one area in the area pattern is calculated. The calculation of the area is performed as a graphic area obtained by further expanding a rectangle or an ellipse including the entire obtained relative coordinates to a certain size. Alternatively, the average value and the standard deviation of the obtained relative coordinates are obtained, and calculated as a figure area such as a rectangle or an ellipse determined by the side length or the elliptical radius length calculated based on the standard deviation with the average value as the center. Done.

The above operation is repeated by changing the user instruction sentence 1502 to obtain all areas corresponding to necessary button operations and key operations, and all of them can be obtained as an area pattern.

In the above description, the pointer designated point 150
No. 3 was only one at the center of the screen. However, in an actual human operation, the entire palm rotates around the elbow or the wrist, so that the entire area pattern may rotate depending on the position of the pointer designated point 1503. In preparation for such a case, the pointer pointing point 1503 may be moved to several places including near the periphery of the screen, and the area pattern may be calculated and stored for each position. In this case, steps S512, S711, and S1 in the first to third embodiments are performed.
In the process of 115, one of these area patterns is selected based on the current pointer position and used for the area determination of another point contact.

The area pattern calculated and stored as described above is stored in a storage medium that is stored even when the power of the apparatus is turned off.

When the user to be used is connected to a computer system which can be specified by a user identifier (usually a user name), the area pattern is stored together with the identifier of the user who performed the above-mentioned area pattern operation. The next time the same user starts the computer, the area pattern created by the operation of the user is used. [Fifth Embodiment] The information processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment uses the computer according to the first to third embodiments to determine a contact area when another point is touched, specifically, step S in FIG.
512, step S711 in FIG. 7, step S711 in FIG.
The area pattern used in the process 1115 is automatically corrected. Other processes are the same as those already described.

In the processing in step S512 in FIG. 5, step S711 in FIG. 7, step S1115 in FIG. 12, etc., FIG. 8 is used to determine which button operation or key operation the touched point corresponds to. Is used. Further, an example of the method of generating the area pattern has already been described as the fourth embodiment.

In the following, a case will be described in which the automatic correction of the area pattern which is the central part of the computer according to the present embodiment is applied to the processing of step S1115 in FIG. 12 of the second embodiment. Step S512,
Similar processing is performed in the processing of step S711 in FIG.

In the fifth embodiment, step S11 in FIG.
At 15, it is determined whether the relative coordinates of the increased point are included in any of the regions in the region pattern. Here, when it is determined that the area is included in any of the areas, the relative coordinate value of the increased point is stored as a history of the pressed position of the area. Each time the same processing is performed, the past relative coordinate values up to a certain number of times are stored.

When it is determined again by the user operation whether or not the area is included in the area, the coordinate values in the history of the pressed position of the area and the method described in the fourth embodiment are used. The weighted average of the center position coordinate value of the area initially set in step 2 with an appropriate weighting coefficient is calculated again as the center position of this area, and the determination is performed. Alternatively, it is also possible to use only the coordinates in the pressed position history without using the initial set value.

In this manner, the center position of each area in the area pattern is set such that the initial position is used as a starting point and gradually approaches the latest actually touched relative position. It can be made to follow automatically. [Embodiment 6] In Embodiment 2, the pressing position is detected by detecting the pressing pressure distribution. In Embodiment 6, the following preprocessing is performed at the time of detecting the pressing position. is there.

When the touch panel is arranged near the horizontal and operated with a finger, a part of the palm or the like may touch the touch panel lightly. In order to distinguish the pressure distribution in such an area from the pressure distribution due to the true operation by the fingertip, it is necessary to remove the signal components considered to be due to such causes from the pressing pressure distribution signals in the X and Y axes. There is.

Specifically, in the second embodiment, when the contact position tracking unit 1003 captures the pressing pressure distribution signal S1000 for each of the X and Y axes in step S1101 in FIG. Use it after filtering without using it as it is.

There can be a plurality of types of filtering, one of which is low-frequency filtering. The signal is processed after removing components longer than a certain spatial wavelength.

Alternatively, the same filtering can be performed by subtracting the moving average value from the measured value. In this filtering, filtering can be performed by calculating an average value of pressing pressure in a certain range around each measurement point and subtracting the average value from the pressing pressure at that point. [Seventh Embodiment] An information processing apparatus according to a seventh embodiment is a modification of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, and the pointer position held by the computer 300 in FIG. If the pointer position shifts, a function to correct it is added.

The method of matching the pointer position held by the computer 300 with the pointer position held by the pointer position storage unit 306 is the same as the method shown in the first embodiment, and will be described below.

The mouse emulation unit 308 controls the pointer movement amount XY signal S312 such that the pointer position held by the computer 300 becomes a specific point.
In order to move the pointer coordinates held by the computer 300 to the upper left corner of the screen, that is, the point represented by the normal coordinates (0, 0), the pointer movement amount XY signal S312
It is sufficient to output a sufficiently large amount of movement in the upper left direction. Thereafter, the pointer coordinate storage unit 306 is read, and the movement amount to that point is output as the pointer movement amount XY signal S312.

In the first embodiment, the above operation (hereinafter, referred to as a pointer coordinate matching operation) is performed only once as an initial operation. In the seventh embodiment, the operation is performed at any time by a user operation. is there.

To instruct a pointer coordinate matching operation, one of the following is performed.

First, the first method is to use the touch panel kill switch 1605. The configuration of the computer according to the seventh embodiment is almost the same as that shown in FIG. 2, except that information indicating that a touch panel kill switch (not shown) is pressed is transmitted to the mouse emulation unit 308. Mouse emulation unit 308
Performs a pointer coordinate matching operation when this switch is pressed.

The second method is a method of performing a pointer coordinate matching operation when a touch panel operation that is not normally used is performed. For example, a pointer coordinate matching operation is performed when a specific area of the touch panel outside the screen frame is touched. Alternatively, when an arbitrary point on the screen is repeatedly contacted and released four times or more within a predetermined time, a pointer coordinate matching operation may be performed.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), a device including one device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine) Etc.).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5, 7, and 12 described above.

[0288]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an information processing apparatus capable of realizing a more comfortable mouse emulation using a touch panel and allowing a user to perform touch panel input with a more natural feeling of use, a control method thereof, and a computer-readable memory.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic functional configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a side view of the appearance of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a display, a touch panel, and peripheral portions of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an interface function unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by a contact state determination unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a graph of observed values when the moving distance of coordinates output by the touch panel according to the first embodiment is observed over time.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating details of processing in step S512 of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an area pattern for assigning a contact position having a pointer position as an origin to a type such as a mouse operation.

FIG. 9 is a state transition diagram showing processing contents of a mouse emulation unit in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a pressing pressure and a contact point in a state where two points on a touch panel are touched according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by a contact position tracking unit according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating an example of a signal output from the touch panel according to the second embodiment when no contact is made;

FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating an example of a signal output from the touch panel according to the second embodiment when only one point is touched.

FIG. 13C is a diagram illustrating an example of a signal output on the touch panel according to the second embodiment when two points of contact are present;

13D is a diagram showing a result obtained by subtracting the pressing pressure shown in FIG. 13B from the pressing pressure shown in FIG. 13C.

13E is a diagram showing a result obtained by subtracting the pressing pressure shown in FIG. 13C from the pressing pressure shown in FIG. 13B.

FIG. 14A is an explanatory diagram of a method for identifying a plurality of contact points on a touch panel according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14B is a diagram illustrating a relative positional relationship between stored contact points used for identifying a plurality of contact points on the touch panel according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a state transition diagram illustrating processing contents of a mouse emulation unit according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a window display for inputting an area pattern according to the fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 computer 101 display 102 touch panel 103 first contact point detection function unit 104 additional point contact point detection function unit 105 area determination function unit

Claims (43)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for generating an input signal via a touch panel, comprising: a detection unit configured to detect a plurality of designated positions on the touch panel; and a recognition unit configured to recognize predetermined information at each of the plurality of designated positions. An information processing apparatus, comprising: means; and correspondence means for associating predetermined information recognized by the recognition means with the input signal, and performing predetermined processing according to the corresponding input signal. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting unit detects a newly designated position in addition to the designated position. 3. An information processing apparatus for generating an input signal via a touch panel, comprising: a detection unit configured to detect that one or more positions on the touch panel are designated; Position on the touch panel,
Recognizing means for recognizing predetermined information in each; first corresponding means for associating the predetermined information recognized by the recognizing means with the input signal; and a position indicated by 1 on the touch panel within a predetermined time. Movement determination means for determining whether or not the user has continuously moved on the touch panel; continuation determination means for determining whether or not the position of 1 has been instructed for the predetermined time; determination by the movement determination means A second correspondence unit that re-corresponds the corresponding input signal to another input signal in accordance with a result and a determination result of the continuation determination unit. According to the input signal corresponding to the second correspondence unit, An information processing device for performing a predetermined process. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, from among the plurality of positions, the first designated position or the first designated position is a position to which the touch panel is continuously moved on the touch panel. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: identification means for identifying, wherein the recognition means comprises position signal means for generating a pointer position coordinate signal or a pointer position movement amount signal for pointing to the identified position. Information processing device. 5. A detecting means for limiting an area located at a predetermined relative position from the pointer position coordinate signal, and detecting that any position in the area is designated on the touch panel. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: an area detection unit configured to detect, and a generation unit configured to generate a signal indicating whether or not the area is detected by the area detection unit. 6. The detecting means according to claim 1, further comprising: recognition information about the already designated position; and recognition information about all positions obtained by adding the another newly designated position to the already designated position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the detection is performed by comparing. 7. The recognition means according to claim 1, further comprising: recognition information for said already designated position; and recognition information for all positions obtained by adding said another newly designated position to said already designated position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the newly designated position is recognized by comparing. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the recognition information is information representing a pressure distribution on the touch panel. 9. The information according to claim 2, wherein, when the detecting unit cannot discriminate between the already designated position and the other newly designated position, the detection unit outputs the fact to that effect. Processing equipment. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting unit stops processing until canceling the designation of all designated positions when the designated position is not distinguishable from the another designated position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when the indication of all the positions is released on the touch panel, an area located at the predetermined relative position from the pointer position is indicated within a predetermined time after the release. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the position signal means generates a predetermined signal when an instruction for the area is detected. 12. The signal generated by the position signal means is not a signal indicating the position of the pointer, but a signal indicating switch on information.
An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the position signal means determines that the instruction at the position identified by the identification means has been released, and stops the on signal of the switch in response to the release. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12. 14. After the instruction at the position identified by the identification means is released, it is detected again that a position in an area at a predetermined relative position from the pointer position is indicated on the touch panel. 13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein when the means detects, the position signal means cancels the ON signal of the switch according to the detection. 15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the position and the shape of the area limited by the limiting unit are different for each area. 16. An operator can set a position and a shape of an area limited by the limiting means.
An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the setting is performed based on position coordinates of the designated position on the touch panel. 18. An average calculating means for calculating a predetermined average of a plurality of designated positions on the touch panel, and a calculating means for calculating spread of coordinates of the plurality of positions around the averaged position coordinates. The method according to claim 1, wherein the setting is performed based on the position coordinates after the averaging and the spread of the coordinates of the plurality of positions.
8. The information processing device according to 7. 19. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the numerical value representing the spread of the coordinates of the plurality of positions is a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of the plurality of coordinates. 20. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the numerical value representing the spread of the coordinates of the plurality of positions is a standard deviation of the plurality of coordinates. 21. A storage unit for storing a history of a relative position from the pointer position, and a changing unit for changing a position and a shape of an area at the predetermined relative position based on the history stored in the storage unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: 22. The amount of change is determined based on the last few positions and the initial position in the stored history, or based on a weighted average of the last few positions in the history. The information processing apparatus according to claim 21, wherein 23. Relative position storage means for storing a relative position of the position in the area at the predetermined relative position from the pointer position, and the relative position relationship when the entire designated position is moved. Determining means for determining whether or not the movement has been performed while maintaining substantially, when the relative position is determined to be substantially maintained, of the entire pointed position after the movement, the pointer The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a movement position identification unit that identifies a corresponding position and a position corresponding to a position in an area at the predetermined relative position. 24. The movement position identification means regards each of the designated positions in order as an origin for all the positions designated after the movement, and has the stored relative positional relationship from the origin. Means for calculating a distance from the position to the designated position, which is closest to the origin, wherein the origin at the time when the distance becomes the minimum is defined as a pointer position, and the stored relative value is determined from the pointer position. 24. The information processing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein a position closest to a position having a positional relationship is identified as a position after the movement corresponding to a position in the region at the predetermined relative position. 25. When there are a plurality of positions in the area at the predetermined relative position, the movement position identification means determines each of the specified positions as an origin in order with respect to all the positions specified after the movement. Assuming, for each of the regions in the stored relative positional relationship from the origin, a means for calculating a distance from the position of the region to the indicated position closest to the origin; and Means for calculating the sum of the distances for each of the positions in the plurality of predetermined relative positions, wherein the origin at the time when the distance becomes the minimum is defined as a pointer position, and the pointer position is determined. 24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein a position closest to the position in the stored relative positional relationship is identified as a position after the movement corresponding to a position in the area at the predetermined relative position. of Broadcast processing apparatus. 26. The information processing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the distance is a sum of absolute values of a difference between X and Y coordinates between the two designated points. 27. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the area detecting means further comprises means for storing a relative position of the position in the area at the predetermined relative position from the pointer position. Identifying, based on the relative position from the pointer position, whether the position where the instruction has been released is the designated position in the area at the predetermined relative position or the movement destination of the position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein 28. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, when there are a plurality of areas at the predetermined relative position, a type of a signal indicating a position instruction or a cancellation of the instruction is different for each of the areas. Information processing device. 29. When there are a plurality of regions at the predetermined relative position, the type of a signal indicating designation of a position in the region or cancellation of the designation is the same for all regions. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 30. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the shape of the area at the predetermined relative position is a rectangle. 31. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the shape of the region located at the predetermined relative position is an ellipse. 32. The detection device further includes a wide area identification means for identifying whether or not an instruction is made over a wide area on the touch panel, and the corresponding means detects the wide area from the detected signal. The apparatus further comprises a removing unit that removes a signal indicating a region, and when the wide region identifying unit identifies that the wide region is instructed, the corresponding unit indicates the wide region from the detected signal. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the response is performed after removing a signal. 33. The information processing apparatus according to claim 32, wherein the removing unit removes the signal indicating the wide area using a predetermined low-frequency filter. 34. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the removing unit removes the signal indicating the wide area by performing a process of subtracting a predetermined average value of the signal from the signal recognized by the recognizing unit. Item 33. The information processing device according to item 32. 35. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input signal is the same as a mouse signal. 36. The input signal according to claim 2, wherein a signal generated is the same as a keyboard signal.
The information processing device according to item. 37. A switch for stopping generation of the input signal from the touch panel or a signal generated based on the input signal from the touch panel near the touch panel. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, further comprising: 38. The signal according to claim 8, wherein the signal representing the pressing pressure distribution on the touch panel is a signal representing information obtained by projecting the pressing pressure distribution on an X axis and a Y axis. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 39. The second responding means, when the movement determining means determines that there has been continuous movement of the position on the touch panel within a predetermined time, positions the movement destination at the pointer position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information processing apparatus generates a signal represented by: 40. A control method of an information processing device for generating an input signal via a touch panel, comprising: a detecting step of detecting a plurality of designated positions on the touch panel; An information processing apparatus, comprising: a recognition step of recognizing; and a corresponding step of associating the predetermined information recognized in the recognition step with the input signal, and performing a predetermined process according to the corresponding input signal. Control method. 41. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus for generating an input signal via a touch panel, comprising: a detecting step of detecting that one or more positions on the touch panel are indicated; Position on the touch panel,
A recognition step of recognizing predetermined information in each of the steps; a first correspondence step of associating the predetermined information recognized in the recognition step with the input signal; and a position of 1 indicated on the touch panel within a predetermined time. A movement determining step of determining whether or not the user has continuously moved on the touch panel; a continuation determining step of determining whether or not the first position has been instructed for the predetermined time; and a determination in the movement determining step And a second corresponding step of re-corresponding the corresponding input signal to another input signal according to the result and the determination result in the continuation determining step. According to the input signal corresponding in the second corresponding step, A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, wherein a predetermined process is performed. 42. A computer-readable memory storing a program code for controlling an information processing device that generates an input signal via a touch panel, wherein: a program code for a detection step for detecting a plurality of designated positions on the touch panel; A program code of a recognition step of recognizing the predetermined information at each of the plurality of designated positions, and a program code of a corresponding step of associating the predetermined information recognized in the recognition step with the input signal; A computer-readable memory that performs a predetermined process according to the input signal. 43. A computer-readable memory storing a program code for controlling an information processing apparatus that generates an input signal via a touch panel, wherein the computer-readable memory detects that one or more positions on the touch panel are designated. A program code of a detection step, a position on the touch panel detected in the detection step,
A program code of a recognition step of recognizing predetermined information in each of the above; a program code of a first correspondence step for associating the predetermined information recognized in the recognition step with the input signal; and a position designated on the touch panel A program code of a movement determining step for determining whether or not the user has continuously moved on the touch panel within a predetermined time; and a continuation determining step for determining whether or not the first position has been instructed for the predetermined time. And a program code of a second corresponding step of re-corresponding the corresponding input signal to another input signal according to the determination result in the movement determination step and the determination result in the continuation determination step. A computer-readable memory, comprising: performing a predetermined process according to an input signal corresponding in the second corresponding step.