JP2007145106A - On-vehicle information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle information terminal which is correctly operated according to a user's instruction even when accurate touch panel operation is difficult. <P>SOLUTION: Any change of the touch position of the touch panel operation is detected (Step S40). If the touch position is not changed, the processing content corresponding the screen display content at the touch position of the touch panel operation is executed (Step S100). If the touch position is changed, the operation gesture is recognized from the trace of the touch position (Step S80), and the processing content corresponding to the operation gesture is executed (Step S90). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle information terminal such as a navigation device that operates using a touch panel.

  Conventionally, navigation devices that perform operations using a touch panel are widely known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a navigation device that can recognize characters input by handwriting via a touch panel and store them as memo information.

JP 2003-337042 A

  In the conventional navigation device as disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order for the navigation device to operate correctly according to the user's instructions, it is necessary for the user to accurately perform a touch panel operation according to the contents of the instructions. However, accurate touch panel operation may be difficult in some situations. For example, in a normal navigation device installed near the center of an instrument panel in a passenger compartment, if the vehicle is a right handle and the user who is the driver is right-handed, the user operates the touch panel with the left hand that is not the dominant hand. Therefore, accurate touch panel operation may be difficult.

The in-vehicle information terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a predetermined operation method based on display means for performing various screen displays, touch panel means for detecting touch panel operations on the display means, and touch panel operations detected by the touch panel means. Therefore, a control means for executing various processes is provided, and the predetermined operation method includes a first operation method for executing process contents corresponding to the screen display contents of the display means at the touch position of the touch panel operation, and touch panel operation. And a second operation method for executing the processing content corresponding to the input operation gesture having a predetermined specific shape.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle information terminal of the first aspect, when the touch position of the touch panel operation does not change, the control means executes various processes according to the first operation method, and touches the touch panel When the position changes, various processes are executed according to the second operation method.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle information terminal according to the first or second aspect, when the control means executes various processes according to the second operation method, within a predetermined time after the previous touch panel input ends. When the next touch panel input is performed, the operation gesture is continuously detected.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a case where exact touch panel operation is difficult, vehicle-mounted information terminals, such as a navigation apparatus, can be correctly operated according to a user's instruction | indication.

  A configuration of a navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. This navigation device is mounted on a vehicle and executes various operations for guiding the vehicle to a destination in accordance with a user's touch panel operation. The navigation device 1 includes a control circuit 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, current location detection device 14, image memory 15, display monitor 16, input device 17, and disk drive 18. The disc drive 18 is loaded with a DVD-ROM 19 in which map data is recorded.

  The control circuit 11 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and performs various processes and controls by executing a control program stored in the ROM 12 using the RAM 13 as a work area. Based on the map data recorded on the DVD-ROM 19, the control circuit 11 displays a road map, sets a destination, searches for a recommended route to the set destination, and the like.

  The current location detection device 14 is a device that detects the current location of the host vehicle. For example, a vibration gyro 14a that detects the traveling direction of the host vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor 14b that detects a vehicle speed, and a GPS sensor that detects a GPS signal from a GPS satellite. 14c and the like. The navigation device 1 can determine a route search start point when searching for a recommended route based on the current location of the host vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14.

  The image memory 15 temporarily stores image data to be displayed on the display monitor 16. The image data includes road map drawing data for displaying a road map, various graphic data, and the like, and is created by the control circuit 11 based on the map data recorded on the DVD-ROM 19. Various images such as road map images are displayed on the display monitor 16 using the image data stored in the image memory 15.

  A touch panel 16a is combined with the display monitor 16, and when any position on the display monitor 16 is touched by a user's finger or the like, information indicating the touch position is output from the touch panel 16a to the control circuit 11. . Based on the touch position information, the control circuit 11 determines which part of the image displayed on the display monitor 16 is touched at that time. The navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment performs various processes according to touch panel operations from the user detected by the touch panel 16a and the control circuit 11.

  The input device 17 is for accepting various operation inputs from the user, and is realized by an operation panel, a remote controller, or the like. For example, the input device 17 performs operations such as inputting a search condition for searching for a destination facility, instructing a map scroll direction, and changing a map scale. These operations can also be performed by the touch panel operation described above. Therefore, the input device 17 is not essential in the navigation device 1 of the present embodiment, and may not be provided.

  The disk drive 18 reads map data for displaying a road map from the loaded DVD-ROM 19. This map data represents route calculation data used for route search to the destination, route guidance data used to guide the vehicle to the destination according to the recommended route, such as intersection name and road name, and roads Includes road data. The map data also includes background data representing map shapes other than roads such as rivers, railways, various facilities on the map (landmarks), and the like.

  In the road data, the minimum unit representing a road section is called a link, and each road is composed of a plurality of links. A point connecting the links is called a node, and each node has position information (coordinate information). The link shape, that is, the shape of the road is determined based on the position information of the node. Although an example using a DVD-ROM is described here, the map data may be read from a recording medium other than the DVD-ROM, such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk.

  When the destination is set by the user by the operation of the input device 17 or the touch panel operation, the navigation device 1 uses the current location detected by the current location detection device 14 as a route search start point, based on the above-described route calculation data. A route search from the current location to the destination is performed by calculating the algorithm. The recommended route obtained as a result of the route search is displayed on the road map separately from other roads by changing its display form, for example, display color. Thus, the user can recognize the recommended route on the road map displayed on the display monitor 16. In addition, the navigation device 1 guides the host vehicle by instructing the traveling direction by an image or voice to the user so that the host vehicle can travel according to the recommended route. In this way, route guidance to the destination is performed by displaying the road map and guiding the vehicle to the destination according to the recommended route.

  Next, a touch panel operation method in the navigation device 1 will be described below. The navigation device 1 executes, as a normal touch panel operation, the processing content corresponding to the screen display content of the display monitor 16 at the touch position of the touch panel operation by the user, as in the conventional navigation device. For example, when various operation buttons are displayed on the screen of the display monitor 16, processing corresponding to the operation button at the touch position is executed. When the map is displayed on the screen, the map is scrolled in the direction of the touch position, or the point of the touch position is designated as the destination.

  Further, in addition to the normal touch panel operation as described above, the user can trace a predetermined specific shape on the touch panel to execute processing contents corresponding to the specific shape. A specific shape input by such an operation method is referred to as an operation gesture. In addition, it is preferable to use what a user can input easily by a touch panel operation, for example, a number, a simple character, a symbol, a figure, etc. as a shape input as an operation gesture.

  An example of the touch panel operation method described above is shown in FIGS. FIG. 2 is an example of a normal touch panel operation that operates according to the screen display content of the touch position. When the user touches a menu button written as “2. Check route” among various menu buttons displayed on the screen, the menu button is selected and highlighted, and the corresponding processing is performed in the navigation device 1. Executed in

  FIG. 3 is an example of a touch panel operation that operates according to an operation gesture. When the user traces and inputs the shape of “2” with a finger, the operation gesture is recognized in the navigation device 1. As a result, the menu button written as “2. Check route” is selected and displayed in reverse video, and the corresponding processing is executed in the navigation device 1.

  The difference in the touch panel operation method as described above is determined in the navigation device 1 as follows. When the touch position of the touch panel operation by the user does not change and only a specific point on the screen is touched, the processing content corresponding to the screen display content at the touch position is executed. On the other hand, when the touch position of the touch panel operation is changed and some shape is traced, it is recognized that the operation gesture is input, and the processing content corresponding to the operation gesture is executed. That is, whether or not the touch panel operation is an input of an operation gesture is determined based on whether or not the touch position has changed from the start to the end of the touch panel operation, and the operation method is switched.

  FIG. 4 shows a flowchart executed in the navigation device 1 when the touch panel operation described above is performed. This flowchart is executed by the control circuit 11 in the navigation device 1.

  In step S10, it is determined whether or not there is a touch panel input. If a touch panel input is detected by the user's touch panel operation, the process proceeds to the next step S20. In step S20, the touch position in the touch panel input detected in step S10 is detected.

  In step S30, it is determined whether the touch panel input detected in step S10 has been completed. When the user's finger leaves the touch panel and the touch panel input is completed, the process proceeds to the next step S40. However, if the user's finger has not left the touch panel and the touch panel input has not yet been completed, the process returns to step S20 and continues to detect the touch position.

  In step S40, it is determined whether or not the touch position detected in step S20 has changed. If the touch position detected in step S20 has changed between the start and end of touch panel input, the process proceeds to step S50. On the other hand, if the touch position has not changed, the process proceeds to step S100.

  In step S50, it is determined whether or not there is a next touch panel input within a predetermined time after the end of the touch panel input is detected in step S30. If there is a next touch panel input within a predetermined time, for example, within 1 second, the process proceeds to step S60. On the other hand, if there is no next touch panel input within the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S80 without executing steps S60 and S70.

  In step S60, as in step S20, the touch position in the touch panel input detected in step S50 is detected. Thus, the operation gesture is detected following step S20. In the next step S70, it is determined whether or not the touch panel input detected in step S50 has ended. When the user's finger leaves the touch panel and the touch panel input is completed, the process proceeds to step S80. However, if the user's finger has not left the touch panel and the touch panel input has not yet been completed, the process returns to step S60 and continues to detect the touch position.

  In step S80, if there is a next touch panel input in step S20, the input operation gesture is recognized based on the locus of the touch position detected in step S60. In the next step S90, an operation corresponding to the input operation gesture is executed based on the recognition result in step S80. In this case, the touch panel operation as described in FIG. 3 is performed. If step S90 is performed, the flowchart of FIG. 4 will be complete | finished.

  On the other hand, when the process proceeds from step S40 to step S100, in step S100, an operation corresponding to the touch position detected in step S20 is executed. In this case, the touch panel operation as described in FIG. 2 is performed. If step S100 is performed, the flowchart of FIG. 4 will be complete | finished.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 4 described above, an example in which an operation gesture having a shape with two or more strokes can be input by performing the next touch panel input within a predetermined time has been described. However, the processing of steps S50, S60, and S70 may be omitted by limiting the operation gesture to a shape with one stroke, that is, a single stroke shape. In this way, it is not necessary to wait for a predetermined time to detect the next touch panel input, so that the reaction speed during operation can be improved.

According to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) In the control circuit 11, an operation method (step S100) for executing the processing content corresponding to the screen display content at the touch position of the touch panel operation, and the operation for executing the processing content corresponding to the operation gesture input by the touch panel operation. Using the method (step S90), various processes in the navigation device are executed. Since it did in this way, even if it is a case where exact touch panel operation is difficult, a navigation apparatus can be correctly operated according to a user's instruction | indication using an operation gesture.

(2) When the touch position change of the touch panel operation is detected (step S40) and the touch position does not change, various processes are executed according to the operation method in step S100, and when the touch position changes, Various processes are executed in accordance with the operation method in step S90. Since it did in this way, switching of the operation method can be performed easily.

(3) When various processes are executed according to the operation method in step S90, if the next touch panel input is performed within a predetermined time after the previous touch panel input is completed (step S50), the touch position is detected. By repeating (step S60), it was decided to continue detecting the operation gesture. Since it did in this way, various shapes including a shape with 2 or more strokes can be input as an operation gesture, without limiting an operation gesture to the shape of a single stroke.

  In the above embodiment, the navigation device has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the navigation device, and can be applied to various in-vehicle information terminals such as a TV monitor and an audio device.

  The embodiment and various modifications described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the invention are not impaired.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the touch panel operation which operate | moves according to the screen display of a touch position. It is a figure which shows the touch panel operation which operate | moves according to an operation gesture. It is a flowchart performed when performing a touch panel operation.

Explanation of symbols

1 Navigation device 11 Control circuit 12 ROM
13 RAM
14 Current location detection device 15 Image memory 16 Display monitor 17 Input device 18 Disk drive 19 DVD-ROM

Claims (3)

Display means for displaying various screens;
Touch panel means for detecting a touch panel operation on the display means;
Control means for executing various processes according to a predetermined operation method based on a touch panel operation detected by the touch panel means,
The predetermined operation method includes:
A first operation method for executing processing contents corresponding to screen display contents of the display means at a touch position of the touch panel operation;
An in-vehicle information terminal comprising: a second operation method for executing processing contents corresponding to an operation gesture having a predetermined specific shape input by the touch panel operation. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 1,
The control means executes various processes according to the first operation method when the touch position of the touch panel operation does not change, and the second operation method when the touch position of the touch panel operation changes. The vehicle-mounted information terminal is characterized by executing various processes according to the above. In the in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
When the control means executes various processes according to the second operation method, if the next touch panel input is performed within a predetermined time after the previous touch panel input is completed, the operation gesture is detected. An in-vehicle information terminal characterized by continued operation.

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