JP2005149190A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor capable of easily selecting and switching a window display based on the movement of an information processor body. <P>SOLUTION: This information processor comprises a display means for displaying execution outputs of a plurality of programs as different window displays. This processor further comprises an acceleration detection means for detecting the acceleration by the movement of the processor body, a movement determination means for comparing the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means with a predetermined threshold to determine the movement of the processor body, and a program switching means for selecting a program to display window-display on the display means from the programs under execution based on the determination result of the movement determination means, and displaying it on the display means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is an information processing apparatus capable of simultaneously executing a plurality of programs and displaying the execution output of the programs as a plurality of windows on a display device, such as a notebook computer or a tablet computer. About.

With recent advances in computer miniaturization technology and display device miniaturization technology using liquid crystal, portable notebook computers are rapidly spreading. In addition, tablet computers and the like that are further miniaturized by combining a liquid crystal display device and input means have also appeared.
A tablet computer is a computer that can input information without using a keyboard or the like by adding a touch panel function to a liquid crystal panel as a display device. Such a tablet-type computer is characterized in that the main information input such as character input is performed via a touch panel, and thus the degree of freedom of the size and shape of the computer main body is large, and the display display is excellent. Further, as an improved version of the notebook computer, a display panel mounting mechanism of the notebook computer has been improved, and a multi-purpose notebook computer that can be used as both a notebook computer and a tablet computer has appeared.

By the way, a computer having a large display device, such as a tablet computer, is often used while presenting display contents to a third party other than the computer operator for the purpose of presentation or the like. In particular, for a tablet computer of a size that can be carried, there has been proposed a usage form in which a computer operation is performed while displaying the display contents to a person who is facing.
In such a usage mode, when a command is given to the computer, the display screen is blocked by a fingertip or a touch pen. That is, if the liquid crystal display device and the input device are integrated to improve operability, the browsing property is deteriorated, and the features of the tablet computer cannot be utilized.

Therefore, a method has been proposed in which the motion of the computer main body is detected using an acceleration sensor and the pointing device is controlled (for example, Patent Document 1). In the portable information processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, acceleration detection means is provided in the computer body, and the movement and inclination of the portable information processing apparatus itself are detected. The pointer of the pointing device displayed on the display device is controlled based on the detected movement and tilt.
That is, since the pointing device described in Patent Document 1 determines the execution of a program or the like by moving the pointer on the icon according to the movement or tilt of the apparatus, an operation space or an installation space such as a mouse or a trackball is required. In addition, the input process and the selection process can be realized without blocking the display screen.

  By the way, recent OSs for personal computers have a function of displaying display outputs of a plurality of programs in a window-type window. That is, the output of an application such as a word processor or spreadsheet software is expressed as a different window display and displayed on the liquid crystal display device. And this window display can be arrange | positioned in a free position with a user's free magnitude | size. Further, the user can display a window display necessary for information input and information browsing on the forefront of the display device by operating a pointing device or the like. It is common for tablet computers to be equipped with an OS having such functions.

Of the window display operations, in order to display the window display desired by the user on the foreground of the display device, it is necessary to operate the pointer of the pointing device with some precision. However, in the portable information processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the precise operation of the pointer depends on the skill level of the user, it is difficult for anyone to select the window display easily and smoothly.
JP 2000-181619 A

  As described above, the information processing apparatus adopting the conventional pointing device operating method has a problem that it is difficult for anyone to easily and smoothly select the window display displayed on the display device.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of easily selecting and switching a window display based on the movement of the information processing apparatus main body.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus including display means for displaying execution outputs of a plurality of programs as different window displays, depending on the movement of the apparatus main body. Acceleration detection means for detecting acceleration, motion determination means for comparing the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means with a predetermined threshold, and determining the movement of the apparatus body, and a program being executed based on the determination result of the motion determination means And a program switching means for selecting a program whose window display should be displayed on the display means and displaying the program on the display means.

  An information processing apparatus according to a second invention is the information processing apparatus according to the first invention, wherein the program switching means corresponds to a window display to be displayed on the forefront of the display means among the window displays displayed on the display means. The program is selected and displayed on the display means.

  An information processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus including display means for displaying execution outputs of a plurality of programs as different window displays, and detects an acceleration in a plurality of directions due to movement of the apparatus main body. A detection unit, a motion pattern recognition unit for recognizing a movement pattern of the apparatus body based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection unit, and a predetermined program based on the movement pattern of the apparatus body recognized by the movement pattern recognition unit Program executing means.

  An information processing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the program execution means displays display means from among the programs being executed based on the movement pattern of the apparatus body recognized by the movement pattern recognition means. A program for displaying the window display is selected and displayed on the display means.

  In the present invention, since the acceleration detecting means is provided, the user's window display switching instruction and program execution instruction can be executed based on the movement of the apparatus main body given by the user.

  In the present invention, since the acceleration detecting means and the movement pattern recognition means are provided, an arbitrary program can be executed based on the movement of the apparatus main body given by the user.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily select and switch the window display displayed on the display device by adding movement to the apparatus main body. Also, an arbitrary program can be executed by adding movement to the apparatus main body.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, this information processing apparatus 1 is a so-called tablet computer that is portable and has a flat plate shape. The display unit 2 has a size that occupies almost the entire area of one main surface, and an operation switch. 3 is provided. The display unit 2 is a display composed of a liquid crystal panel, for example, and is one of output devices of the information processing apparatus 1. The display unit 2 has a touch panel function that senses pressure and static electricity applied to the liquid crystal panel by the user and recognizes and takes in the pressure as information. That is, the user can input information or give a command by directly writing characters by bringing the stylus pen 4 into contact with the display unit 2 instead of an input means such as a keyboard. The operation switch 3 is a main power switch of the information processing apparatus 1 or the like.

  The information processing apparatus 1 uses a multitasking OS such as Windows (“Windows” is a registered trademark of “Microsoft Corporation”), and can execute a plurality of programs simultaneously. The display unit 2 displays the execution output of the program in a window shape. The user operates the stylus pen 4 to adjust the arrangement and size of the window-shaped execution output, and to display an arbitrary display. Can be placed on the front. At the lower end of the display unit 2 is provided a band-like area in which program names of programs that are in an execution state and a display state are displayed.

In the following description, the display of the execution output represented in a window shape on the display unit 2 is referred to as “window display”. In the following description, all programs that execute instructions in a prescribed procedure, such as programs and processes that are executed without using the OS, programs and windows that are executed on the OS, are referred to as “programs”. .
As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 1 includes a program A (program icon 11a), a program B (not shown), a program C (program icon 11c), a program D (not shown), and a program E ( The program icon 11e) is being executed, and the execution output of the program A, program C and program E is displayed on the display unit 2 as window A (window display 12a), window C (window display 12c) and window E (window display 12e). Assume that it is displayed.

  When the user touches a part of the window display 12a with the stylus pen 4, the information processing apparatus 1 selects the window display 12a from the overlapping window displays and displays it on the forefront of the display unit 2. The program A corresponding to the display 12a is set in an active state in which information can be input. When the user touches a part of the window display 12b or 12c hidden behind the window display 12a with the stylus pen 4, the information processing apparatus 1 selects the touched window display and displays the front of the display unit 2. And the corresponding program is activated.

  The window displays 12a to 12c are arranged so as to overlap each other, but are configured so that all window displays do not overlap, or a specific window display is maximized to hide the remaining window displays on the back. You can also Note that the programs A to E are not limited to application programs such as word processors and spreadsheets, but also include utility programs executed in the background.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is a tablet computer using a touch panel provided in the display unit 2 as a main input unit. In the above description, the multitask OS is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, a computer that is not a multitask process but a single task process may be used as long as it can execute a plurality of programs and display the execution output of each program as an individual window display on the display device.

Next, the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration and a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment.
The information processing apparatus 1 includes an input unit 2a, an output unit 2b, a CPU unit 21, an acceleration sensor unit 22, an internal storage unit 24, and an external storage unit 25 that are connected to each other via a bus 23.

  The input unit 2a and the output unit 2b are an input device and an output device provided with an input / output interface of the information processing apparatus 1, and are realized by a touch panel and a liquid crystal panel of the display unit 2, respectively. The input unit 2a operates to take in information and commands input by the user. The output unit 2b acts to visually display program execution output and the like. The CPU unit 21 is an arithmetic processing unit of the information processing apparatus 1 and operates to execute programs stored in the internal storage unit 24 and the external storage unit 25.

  The acceleration sensor unit 22 includes a sensor that detects the acceleration of the information processing apparatus 1 main body and an interface that outputs the detected acceleration data as digital information, and operates to detect the movement of the information processing apparatus 1 main body. The acceleration sensor unit 22 individually detects the acceleration in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction (X-axis direction and Y-axis direction) of the information processing apparatus 1 main body, and outputs a scalar amount of the detected acceleration data as acceleration data. In addition to the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, acceleration in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) may also be detected and output together as acceleration data.

  The internal storage unit 24 is an internal memory for storing a program to be executed and executing the program, and is, for example, a RAM or a flash memory. In the example shown in FIG. 2, programs A to E (29a to 29e) are stored in the internal storage unit 24 as programs being executed.

  The external storage unit 25 is a storage unit for storing a program to be executed, and is, for example, a flash memory, a hard disk device, a CD reader, or a DVD reader. Unlike the internal storage unit 24, the external storage unit 25 stores programs that are not frequently accessed by the CPU unit 21 and programs that are not currently being executed. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, programs 29x to 29z that are not executed are stored in the external storage unit 25.

  When the user touches the input unit 2 a of the display unit 2 with the stylus pen 4 and issues an instruction to execute a new program to the information processing apparatus 1, the CPU unit 21 reads the program from the external storage unit 25 and reads the internal storage unit 24. And execute the program. The CPU unit 21 selects a program to be displayed on the output unit 2b of the display unit 2 from the programs A to E (29a to 29e) being executed, and displays the selected program on the output unit 2b. Such an operation may be performed directly by the CPU unit 21 or may be performed by the OS.

  The acceleration sensor unit 22 outputs acceleration data of the information processing apparatus 1 main body at all times or when receiving a command from the CPU unit 21 via a program. The acceleration data output from the acceleration sensor unit 22 is sent to the internal storage unit 24. As described above, the information processing apparatus 1 is realized by the display unit 2 such as a liquid crystal panel in which the input unit 2a and the output unit 2b are integrated and provided with a touch panel, and the acceleration sensor unit 22 is provided. It is different from the general computer configuration.

Next, the functional configuration of the internal storage unit 24 in the information processing apparatus 1 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the internal storage unit 24 in the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes an acceleration measurement unit 26, an acceleration determination unit 27, a program switching unit 28, and programs A to E (29a to 29e) being executed. Each functional element is included. These functional elements are stored in the internal storage unit 24 in the form of software, but may be realized by hardware such as an electronic circuit.

  The acceleration measuring unit 26 operates to obtain and output a quantitative acceleration from the acceleration data detected by the acceleration sensor unit 22. The acceleration determination unit 27 compares the acceleration output from the acceleration measurement unit 26 with a predetermined threshold, and determines whether the acceleration is due to a movement applied to the main body of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the user's intention or is carried. It acts to determine if it is due to vibration. When it is determined that the determination result of the acceleration determination unit 27 is due to the user's intention, the program switching unit 28 displays the display unit 2 (output) among the programs A to E (29a to 29e) being executed in the information processing apparatus 1. An operation of switching a program to be displayed in the foreground by selecting a program to be displayed in the forefront (a program to be in an active state that is visible to the user and capable of inputting information) from among the programs being displayed in the section 2b) To do.

  The acceleration measurement unit 26, the acceleration determination unit 27, and the program switching unit 28 are programs described in a program language such as C ++, for example, and are read from the external storage unit 25 in response to a command from the CPU unit 21, and are stored in the internal memory. It is executed in the area of the unit 24. The acceleration measuring unit 26, the acceleration determining unit 27, and the program switching unit 28 may be incorporated as OS functions, or may be implemented as programs in the same row as the programs A to E (29a to 29e). Further, it may be mounted on an expansion board connected to the bus 23 or may be realized by a hardware component such as an electronic circuit.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment includes an acceleration sensor unit that detects acceleration due to movement of the apparatus main body, an acceleration determination unit that determines the acceleration, and a window display on the forefront of the display unit based on the determination result. Since the program switching unit for switching the program to be displayed is provided, it is possible to switch the program in which the window display is displayed in the foreground by giving movement to the apparatus main body. Further, in this information processing apparatus, since program switching is performed directly from acceleration information, it is possible to perform reliable window display switching and program switching regardless of the skill level of the user like a pointing device.

  Subsequently, the window display switching operation in the information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of the window display switching operation in the information processing apparatus 1, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the window display switching operation in the information processing apparatus 1. In the following description, the information processing apparatus 1 will be described as executing programs A to E.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the lower end area of the display unit 2 has icons indicating program names of programs A, C, and E whose windows are displayed on the display unit 2 among the programs being executed. Program name icons 31a, 31c and 31e are respectively displayed. The window displays 32a, 32c and 32e corresponding to the execution outputs of the programs A, C and E are displayed in an overlapped state.

  The window displays 32a, 32c, and 32e are all displayed in a size that occupies almost the entire area of the display unit 2, and are overlapped in the order of the window displays 32a, 32c, and 32e. The programs B and D whose window display is not displayed on the display unit 2 are programs that do not produce visual output and operate in the background. The acceleration sensor unit 22 continues to output acceleration data by detecting the acceleration of the information processing apparatus 1 main body.

Hereinafter, the window display switching operation of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the acceleration data from the acceleration sensor unit 22 is received via the bus 23, the acceleration measurement unit 26 converts the acceleration data into quantitative acceleration and outputs the acceleration data to the acceleration determination unit 27 (step S41, hereinafter as S41). Abbreviated).

When the acceleration is received from the acceleration measuring unit 26, the acceleration determining unit 27 compares the received acceleration with a predetermined threshold value. Then, it is determined whether the received acceleration is caused by the movement of the apparatus main body accompanied by the user's intention, or caused by vibrations in carrying (S42).
Here, it determines with it being the movement resulting from a user's intention with the acceleration exceeding a predetermined threshold value. As the threshold, for example, about 0.5 G per 100 ms, an acceleration that does not cause malfunction due to vibration such as carrying is set.

  As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the acceleration is caused by vibrations not intended by the user, that is, when the acceleration is not effective (No in S42), the acceleration determination unit 27 prepares for the next acceleration determination (S41). .

As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the acceleration is caused by the movement of the information processing apparatus 1 body accompanied by the user's intention, that is, when the acceleration is an effective acceleration exceeding the threshold (Yes in S42), the acceleration determination unit 27 Of the window displays displayed on the display unit 2, an instruction to switch the window display to be displayed in the front row is given to the program switching unit 28 (S43).
Based on a command from the acceleration determination unit 27, the program switching unit 28 displays a window display to be displayed in the front row among the window displays displayed on the display unit 2 among the programs A to E (29a to 29e) being executed. The program corresponding to is selected, and the window display corresponding to the program is moved to the front row.

That is, among the executed programs A to E, the window display 31c displayed next to the window display 31a displayed in the front row in FIG. 3A is selected and moved to the front row. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, the window display 31c is moved to the front row and displayed. The program displayed in the foreground is in an active state in which the user can give a command to the program or input information.
In the above description, the window display next to the window display currently displayed in the foreground of the display unit 2 is the window display that should be displayed in the foreground by the user's intention, but is not limited thereto. . That is, a preset window display of a specific program may be selected and switched as the window display to be displayed in the foreground.

  Next, the operation of the program switching unit 28 in the window display switching operation shown in FIG. 3, that is, step S43 shown in FIG. 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the window display switching unit 28.

As a result of the determination by the acceleration determination unit 27, when it is determined that the detected acceleration is caused by the movement of the information processing apparatus 1 main body accompanying the user's intention, the acceleration determination unit 27 displays the window displayed on the display unit 2. Among them, a command to switch the window display displayed in the front row is given to the program switching unit 28 (S43). Upon receiving the window display switching command, the program switching unit 28 stores the attribute information of the program corresponding to the window display currently displayed on the forefront in the display unit 2 in the internal storage unit 24 (S51).
In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the “window A” displayed in the foreground, that is, the attribute information of the program A corresponding to the window display 32a is stored. The window display attribute information includes, for example, an ID number of a corresponding program, a process number, identification information indicating whether the program should be displayed on the display unit 2 or a program that operates in the background.

When the attribute information of the program corresponding to the frontmost window display is saved, the program switching unit 28 acquires the attribute information of the currently executing program in a predetermined order (S52).
This order may be the order of the process numbers of the program or the order of the ID numbers. In the example shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the program attribute information of the program B next to the program A corresponding to the window display displayed in the foreground is acquired.

  When the attribute information of the first program is acquired, the program switching unit 28 determines whether the program is a program whose window display is displayed on the display unit 2 (S53).

As a result of the determination, when the window display of the program related to the acquired attribute information is not displayed on the display unit 2 (No in S53), the program switching unit 28 selects a program in the next order (S54), The attribute information of the program is acquired (S52).
In the example shown in FIG. 3, the program B does not display a window display on the display unit 2. Accordingly, the program switching unit 28 selects the program C, which is the next program after the program B, and acquires program attribute information.

As a result of the determination, when the window display of the program related to the acquired attribute information is displayed on the display unit 2 (Yes in S53), the program switching unit 28 displays the window display of the program on the foreground of the display unit 2. It is determined whether it is arranged at the next position (S55).
In the example shown in FIG. 3, a window display of the program C selected again is displayed on the display unit 2. Therefore, the program switching unit 28 determines whether the program C corresponds to the window display next to the window display of the program A displayed on the foreground. This is realized by comparing with the attribute information of the program in which the window display is displayed in the forefront previously stored in the internal storage unit 24.

  As a result of the determination, if the determination target window display is not the next display of the foreground window display (No in S55), the next sequential program is selected (S54), and the attribute information of the program is acquired again (S52). ).

As a result of the determination, when the determination target window display is the next to the foreground window display (Yes in S55), the program switching unit 28 sets the window display as the window display to be displayed in the forefront of the display unit 2. The display on the display unit 2 is changed (S56).
In the example shown in FIG. 3, since the window display of the program C is positioned next to the program display of the foreground program A, the window display of the program C is moved to the foreground. As a result, the foreground window display is switched as shown in FIG.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment includes the acceleration sensor unit, detects the window display switching command of the user, and changes the window display and the program. Therefore, the apparatus main body can be used without using a pointing device. The window display and program switching can be performed simply by giving motion to the. Further, in this information processing apparatus, since window display and program switching are directly performed based on the acceleration given by the user, it is possible to perform reliable program switching without depending on the skill level of the user.

  In the above description, the program switching unit 28 switches the window display displayed on the foreground of the display unit 2 based on the movement of the apparatus main body according to the user's intention. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the program switching unit 28 may have a function of reading and executing a specific program from the external storage unit 25 instead of switching the window display. For example, if the specific program to be executed is a head evacuation program of the hard disk device, the evacuation program can be automatically executed by detecting the movement of the main body of the device.

  In the above description, the case where the frontmost window display is selected and switched when a plurality of window displays overlap each other has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If the window displays do not overlap, instead of the window display to be displayed in the foreground, for example, the window display corresponding to the program to be activated may be selected and switched. In this case, in the description of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, “frontmost window display” and “frontmost program” are replaced with “window display corresponding to an active program” and “active program”, and applied. Similar effects can be achieved.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration and a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Note that the same components as those in FIG.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the information processing apparatus 5 of this embodiment is different from the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment in that an acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 and a program execution unit 62 are provided.

  The information processing apparatus 5 includes an input unit 2 a, an output unit 2 b, a CPU unit 21, an acceleration sensor unit 22 ′, an internal storage unit 24, and an external storage unit 25 that are connected to each other via a bus 23. The acceleration sensor unit 22 ′ includes a plurality of sensors that detect the acceleration of the information processing apparatus 5 main body and an interface that outputs the detected acceleration data as digital information, and acts to detect the movement of the information processing apparatus 5 main body. Unlike the acceleration sensor unit 22 of the first embodiment, the acceleration sensor unit 22 ′ individually detects and detects the acceleration in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction (X-axis direction and Y-axis direction) of the information processing apparatus 5 body. The vector amount of acceleration data is output as acceleration data. In addition to the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, acceleration in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) may also be detected and output together as acceleration data.

  The acceleration sensor unit 22 ′ outputs acceleration data of the information processing apparatus 1 main body at all times or when receiving an instruction from the CPU unit 21 via a program. The acceleration data output by the acceleration sensor unit 22 ′ is sent to the internal storage unit 24.

  Further, the internal storage unit 24 in the information processing apparatus 5 of this embodiment includes an acceleration measurement unit 26 ′, an acceleration determination unit 27 ′, an acceleration pattern recognition unit 61, a program execution unit 62, and programs A to E (29a to 29a to be executed). 29e). These functional elements are stored in the internal storage unit 24 in the form of software, but may be realized by hardware such as an electronic circuit.

  The acceleration measuring unit 26 ′ operates to obtain and output acceleration including direction information and absolute value information from the acceleration data detected by the acceleration sensor unit 22. The acceleration determination unit 27 ′ compares the absolute value of the acceleration output from the acceleration measurement unit 26 ′ with a predetermined threshold, and the absolute value of the acceleration is based on the force applied to the information processing device 5 by the user's intention. It acts to determine whether it is a thing or due to vibration such as carrying.

  The acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 recognizes the planar or three-dimensional movement of the apparatus main body from the vector amount of acceleration when the determination result of the acceleration determination unit 27 ′ is determined to be the user's intention, and is set in advance. It collates with a motion pattern and acts to determine a program corresponding to the motion. The program execution unit 62 operates to read and execute the program recognized and determined by the acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 from the external storage unit 25 to the internal storage unit 24.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus 5 according to this embodiment includes the acceleration sensor unit 22 ′ that detects acceleration information including information on the absolute amount and the direction, and the movement of the apparatus main body based on the detected absolute amount and direction of the acceleration. Since the acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 for recognizing and the program execution unit 62 for executing the program corresponding to the recognized movement are provided, an arbitrary program can be executed according to the movement pattern of the apparatus main body.

  The operation of the program execution process of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program execution process in the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment.

  Upon receiving the acceleration data from the acceleration sensor unit 22 ′ via the bus 23, the acceleration measurement unit 26 ′ converts the acceleration data into an acceleration including an absolute value and direction information and outputs the acceleration to the acceleration determination unit 27 ′ (S71). ).

When the acceleration information is received from the acceleration measurement unit 26 ′, the acceleration determination unit 27 ′ compares the received absolute value of the acceleration with a predetermined threshold value. Then, it is determined whether the received acceleration is caused by the movement of the apparatus body accompanied by the user's intention, or caused by vibrations in carrying (S72).
Here, it is determined that the acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value due to the user's intention. As the threshold value, for example, an acceleration that does not cause a malfunction due to vibration such as carrying, such as about 0.5 G per 100 ms, is set.

  As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the acceleration is caused by vibrations not intended by the user, that is, when the acceleration is not effective (No in S72), the acceleration determination unit 27 ′ prepares for the next acceleration determination (S71). ).

  As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the acceleration is caused by the movement of the main body of the information processing apparatus 5 accompanied by the user's intention, that is, when the acceleration is an effective acceleration exceeding the threshold (Yes in S72), the acceleration determination unit 27 ′ The acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 is instructed to recognize the movement of the apparatus main body from the acceleration information. Upon receiving the instruction, the acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 recognizes the movement of the apparatus main body based on the absolute value of acceleration and the direction information (S73).

When the movement of the apparatus main body is recognized, the acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 selects a program corresponding to the recognized movement of the apparatus main body based on a preset correspondence table between the movement of the apparatus main body and the program to be executed ( S74).
When a program is selected, the program execution unit 62 reads the program from the external storage unit 25 to the internal storage unit 24 and executes it.

  As described above, in the information processing apparatus 5 according to this embodiment, the acceleration pattern recognition unit 61 is provided to recognize the movement of the apparatus, and the program corresponding to the movement is executed. Arbitrary program execution can be performed according to the target or three-dimensional movement. Further, since the program is selected and executed based on the acceleration due to the movement of the apparatus main body, it is possible to execute the program reliably without depending on the skill level of the user.

  In the above description, the program stored in the external storage unit 25 is executed based on the acceleration due to the movement of the apparatus main body. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, a window display corresponding to an arbitrary program among the programs being executed may be displayed on the forefront of the display unit.

In addition, this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment.
In the above description, an example applied to a tablet computer has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, if it is a portable computer, the same effect can be obtained even if it is applied to a notebook computer or a personal digital assistant (PDA).

The program and software in the above embodiment may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a flexible disk, or may be transmitted as a software (program) alone. In this case, the software (program) stored in the storage medium is read by the computer, or downloaded and installed from a site (server) on the LAN or the Internet, thereby enabling processing in each embodiment.
That is, the software (program) in the present invention is not limited to that stored in a storage medium independent of the computer, but includes software distributed via a transmission medium such as a LAN or the Internet.

  As the storage medium, in addition to the above flexible disk, for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk (CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD, etc.), a magneto-optical disk (MO, etc.), a semiconductor memory, etc. can be stored, and a computer As long as is a readable storage medium, the storage format may be any form.

  Further, based on an instruction of a program installed in a computer from a storage medium, an OS (operating system) running on the computer, database management software, MW (middleware) such as network software, and the like realize this embodiment. A part of each process may be executed.

The computer executes each process in the present embodiment based on a program stored in a storage medium or an external storage unit, and a single device such as a personal computer or a plurality of devices are connected to a network. Any configuration such as a system may be used.
The computer is not limited to a personal computer, but includes an arithmetic processing device, a microcomputer, and the like included in an information processing device, and is a generic term for devices and devices that can realize the functions of the present invention by a program.

  The present invention can be used in electronic equipment manufacturing industry, computer hardware related industry, computer software related industry and the like.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the mode of window display switching operation | movement of the information processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the window display switching operation | movement of the information processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the program switching part in the information processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the program execution operation | movement of the information processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing apparatus, 2 ... Display part, 3 ... Operation switch, 4 ... Stylus pen, 11 ... Program icon, 12 ... Window display, 21 ... CPU part, 22 ... Acceleration sensor part, 23 ... Bus, 24 ... Internal memory 25, external storage unit, 26 ... acceleration measuring unit, 27 ... acceleration determining unit, 28 ... program switching unit, 29 ... program, 31 ... program icon, 32 ... window display, 61 ... acceleration pattern recognition unit, 62 ... program Execution part.

Claims (4)

An information processing apparatus comprising display means for displaying execution outputs of a plurality of programs as different window displays,
Acceleration detecting means for detecting acceleration due to movement of the apparatus body;
A movement determination means for comparing the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means with a predetermined threshold value to determine the movement of the apparatus body;
Program switching means for selecting a program for displaying the window display on the display means from among the programs being executed based on the determination result of the movement determination means and displaying the program on the display means Information processing apparatus.   The said program switching means selects the program corresponding to the window display which should be displayed in the forefront of the said display means among the window displays displayed on the said display means, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. 1. An information processing apparatus according to 1. An information processing apparatus comprising display means for displaying execution outputs of a plurality of programs as different window displays,
Acceleration detecting means for detecting acceleration in a plurality of directions due to movement of the apparatus body;
Movement pattern recognition means for recognizing a movement pattern of the apparatus main body based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a program execution unit that executes a predetermined program based on a movement pattern of the apparatus main body recognized by the movement pattern recognition unit.   The program execution means selects a program for displaying the window display on the display means from the programs being executed based on the movement pattern of the apparatus main body recognized by the movement pattern recognition means, and displays the display means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information processing apparatus is displayed.

Images