JP2007052385A - Audio user interface - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a personal computer system which is easily usable even by a sight handicapped person. <P>SOLUTION: The four corners, the top and bottom, right and left, of a monitor display are provided with speakers and where on the two-dimensional planes there are an icon, cursor, menu, etc., is expressed by sound images. Further, the positions and the kinds of arbitrary points on the two-dimensional planes are expressed by the kinds of sounds and the pitches of the sounds. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

    The present invention relates to a computer, and is intended to improve the difficulty of using a device using a monitor display, which is widely used at present, particularly a visually impaired person.

The personal computer interface that is widely used at present is a graphic user interface, which uses a graphic operation such as an icon for the user as an interface, and uses a computer using a command operation by inputting characters in a conventional computer. It eliminates the difficulty. Non-patent document 1 is an example of this.
A History Of The GUI http: // artechnica. com / articles / paedia / gui. ars

    However, the graphic user interface can grasp many items at the same time, so it is very convenient for people without visual impairments, but for visually impaired people (especially blind people) anywhere on the 2D plane of the monitor display. it is an object of the present invention to solve this problem because the icons and menus, difficult very easy to use not know where what is there for is scattered things like file to.

    In order to solve this problem, the invention of claim 1 is provided with speakers at four corners of a monitor display of a computer (see FIG. 1), and a sound image is formed at an arbitrary position on a two-dimensional plane and arranged on a grid on the monitor display. This can be solved by recognizing the position of the represented icon, cursor, menu, etc. using auditory sense.

    The invention of claim 2 complements the invention of claim 1. In order to recognize the position and type of icons, cursors, menus, etc. more accurately, it uses the tone (sound type) and pitch (pitch) to distinguish icons, cursors, menus, etc. It can be imaged in the brain more accurately.

According to the present invention, a blind blind person can accurately recognize the positions of icons, cursors, menus, etc., so that the user can freely handle graphic user interface-based devices (mainly personal computers). I can do it.

    In FIG. 1, speakers are provided at four corners of a computer monitor display. Arranging not only two but also four in the top, bottom, left and right positions as in a stereo speaker, an arbitrary sound image can be connected to a two-dimensional plane and the position of the point of the sound image can be recognized.

    FIG. 2 shows a specific application example of claim 2. Icons are arranged vertically and horizontally in a grid on a two-dimensional plane of a computer monitor display. A pitch (pitch) is assigned to the Y axis in proportion to the height of the icon on the plane. Up to 52 pitches can be assigned as long as the white key of the grand piano is used. Sound types (instrument sounds, synthesizer sounds, various sound libraries) are assigned on the X axis.

Industrial applicability

  Since the speaker, the monitor display, and the digital sound source according to the present invention can be industrially mass-produced, they have industrial applicability.

One speaker is provided at each of the four corners of the monitor display. The position of the icon arranged on the grid is expressed by tone (sound type) and pitch (sound pitch).

Explanation of symbols

1 Monitor speakers arranged at the four corners of the top, bottom, left and right 2 Display for personal computer with 4-channel monitor speakers 3 Assignment of tone (sound type) in the X-axis direction 4 Assignment of pitch (sound pitch) in the Y-axis direction 5 Icons arranged in a grid

Claims (2)

By providing speakers at the four corners of the display of a personal computer, the positions of icons, cursors, menus, etc. arranged in a grid shape of the personal computer can be expressed on a two-dimensional plane by voice. A system that can grasp and confirm the position of icons and cursors. When the positions of icons, cursors, menus, etc. arranged in a grid on the two-dimensional plane of the monitor display of the personal computer represented in claim 1 are played by the speakers provided at the four corners, A system that more reliably represents the position and type of cursors, icons, menus, etc. on a two-dimensional plane by pitch The type of timbre and the way to arrange the pitch are arranged, for example, by placing the pitch (pitch) on the Y axis in proportion to the height of the position of the icon, etc. A system that allows visually impaired people to be surely recognized by assigning sound types.

Images