JP2008176548A - Electronic equipment, operation method of electronic equipment, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide electronic equipment, easily and rapidly varying scroll speed in scroll display, an operation method of electronic equipment, and a program therefor. <P>SOLUTION: The electronic equipment includes: a rotary operation part 40 having a track ball 41 and capable of operating the track ball 41 in at least two directions; and a display 21 capable of displaying a plurality of choices C by scroll display. The scroll speed in scroll display is variably controlled according to the operation direction of the track ball 41. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device capable of displaying a plurality of options by scroll display and selecting a desired option, an operation method of the electronic device, and a program thereof.

Conventionally, as an operation method for changing the scroll speed of scroll display, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. In Patent Document 1, the position of the scroll bar in the scroll display frame is changed according to the number of times the two scroll buttons corresponding to the scroll display in the vertical direction are pressed, and the scroll in the vertical direction is changed according to the position of the scroll bar. The speed can be changed. Other methods include changing the scrolling speed according to the number and time of pressing the cross-shaped seesaw button that can be used to indicate scroll display in the up / down or left / right direction, and the speed of tracing the pressure-sensitive track wheel (click wheel) with your finger. A method of changing the scrolling speed according to the above is also known.
JP 2001-356755 A

  However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1 and the method using a seesaw button, the scrolling speed is varied depending on the number of times the button is pressed and the time it is pressed, so that the number of fingertip actions increases and the operation takes time. There's a problem. Further, in the method using the track wheel, the scroll speed is varied according to the moving speed of the fingertip. Therefore, it is difficult to adjust the scroll speed by one-hand operation, and operation with both hands is required.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of easily and quickly changing the scroll speed of scroll display, an operation method of the electronic device, and a program thereof.

  The electronic device of the present invention has an operation element, an operation means capable of operating the operation element in at least two directions, a display means capable of displaying a plurality of options by scroll display, and an operation of the operation element. Display control means for performing display control of the display means, wherein the display control means varies the scroll speed of the scroll display in accordance with the operation direction of the operator.

  An operation method of an electronic device according to the present invention is an electronic device having an operation element, an operation means capable of operating the operation element in at least two directions, and a display means capable of displaying a plurality of options by scroll display. An operation method is characterized in that the scrolling speed of the scroll display is varied in accordance with the operation direction of the operation element.

According to these configurations, the scroll speed of the scroll display can be varied only by changing the operation direction of the operation element. As a result, the user can easily and quickly adjust the scrolling speed with one-handed operation, and as a result, the user can comfortably select an option.
Examples of the operation element include a pointing device such as a trackball, a trackpad, a joystick, a mouse, and a seesaw button.

  In the electronic device described above, the two directions are directions orthogonal to each other, and the display control unit is configured so that the scroll speed is low for the operation in the first direction which is one of the two directions. It is preferable to control the operation in the second direction, which is the other of the two directions, so that the scroll speed becomes high.

According to this configuration, since the scroll speed can be switched between a low speed and a high speed according to an operation in the orthogonal direction, an operation error can be reduced as compared with a case where the scroll speed is switched by a slight difference in direction. In addition, since the low speed and the high speed are assigned in the orthogonal direction, the user can know the operation method sensuously and is easy to use.
Needless to say, “high speed” indicates a speed higher than “low speed”.

  In the electronic device described above, the operation unit can operate the operation element in a third direction located approximately in the middle between the first direction and the second direction, and the display control unit can operate in the third direction. It is preferable to control the operation so that the scroll speed becomes a medium speed.

According to this configuration, the scroll speed can be adjusted in three stages. In addition, the third direction corresponding to “medium speed” is located approximately in the middle of the first direction corresponding to “low speed” and the second direction corresponding to “high speed”, so that the user intuitively The speed can be adjusted and it is easy to use.
Needless to say, "medium speed" refers to a speed faster than "low speed" and slower than "high speed".

  In the electronic apparatus described above, the operation means can operate the operation element in all directions of 360 °, and the display control means can change the scroll speed to two or more steps according to the operation direction of the operation element. preferable.

  According to this configuration, since the operation element can be operated in all directions of 360 °, fine adjustment of the angle of the operation element is easy, and as a result, the scroll speed can be varied more comfortably. Further, since multi-stage adjustment is possible, finer speed adjustment can be performed.

  In the electronic apparatus described above, the operation unit is provided with at least one insensitive area having an arbitrary angle of 360 °, and the display control unit includes the operation direction of the operator included in the insensitive area. It is preferable to ignore the operation of the operator.

  According to this configuration, the setting of the insensitive area can make the user intuitively aware of the difference in operation contents between the two areas located on both sides of the insensitive area. For example, by providing an insensitive area for each scroll speed switching position (between two directions with different scroll speeds), the user can be made aware of the speed switching position.

  In the electronic device described above, it is preferable that a function for specifying a scroll direction including forward scroll or backward scroll is assigned to the operation means corresponding to each operation direction of the operator.

  According to this configuration, the scroll direction can also be specified using the operation element for changing the scroll speed.

  In the electronic device described above, it is preferable that the operation means is assigned with functions of forward scroll and reverse scroll corresponding to the operation of the operation element in the forward direction and the reverse direction which are different by about 180 °.

  According to this configuration, since the forward / backward scroll can be realized in response to the forward / reverse operation, the user can intuitively learn the operation method and is easy to use.

  In the electronic apparatus described above, it is preferable that the display control unit detects the operation direction every unit time from the start of operation of the operation unit, and varies the scroll speed every unit time.

According to this configuration, when the unit time is, for example, 0.05 seconds, the operation direction is detected every 0.05 seconds, and the scroll speed is varied. It is possible to change the scroll speed to reduce the scroll speed. As a result, the possibility of failing to select a target option (passing through the target option) is reduced, and a search can be performed in a shorter time.
Note that finer speed control is possible by setting the unit time short.

  The program of the present invention is for causing a computer to realize the above-described electronic device operation method.

  By using this program, it is possible to realize a method of operating an electronic device that can easily and quickly change the scroll speed of scroll display.

  Hereinafter, an electronic device, an operation method of the electronic device, and a program thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the case where the electronic device of this invention is applied to the portable audio apparatus which has a music search function is illustrated. FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of the portable audio device 1. As shown in the figure, the portable audio device 1 includes an operation unit 10 for a user to perform various operations, a display unit 20 for displaying various information, and a display control unit 30 for performing display control of the display unit 20. Are the main components.

  The operation means 10 has an operation element 11 that can be operated by a user touching it directly. In the present embodiment, a trackball 41 (see FIG. 2) that is rotatable in all 360 ° directions is employed as the operation element 11. However, any other operation element (if it can be operated in all 360 ° directions) Trackpads, joysticks and mice) may be employed.

  The display means 20 can employ a general display 21 (see FIG. 2) such as an LCD, and can display a plurality of options by scroll display. Examples of choices include music titles and artist names.

  The display control unit 30 generates a control signal for performing various display controls based on an operation signal generated according to the operation timing, operation direction, or the like of the operation element 11 and outputs the control signal to the display unit 20. Specifically, display control such as changing the scroll speed and scroll direction of the scroll display according to the operation direction of the operation element 11 is performed.

  The portable audio device 1 includes a storage unit that stores a control program and data written by the user, a reproduction control unit that controls reproduction of music, in addition to the operation unit 10, the display unit 20, and the display control unit 30. Although an interface for inputting / outputting data to / from an external device including an earphone is provided (both are not shown), detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, an example of the operation means 10 and the display means 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a front view of the portable audio device 1. The portable audio device 1 includes a display 21 that functions as the display unit 20 in the upper half of the device case (housing body) 5, and a rotation operation unit 40 that functions as the operation unit 10 in the lower half.

  On the display 21, a plurality of options C are listed in the vertical direction, and the reverse display section indicates the target options C0 that are the selection targets at that time.

  The rotation operation unit 40 includes a trackball 41 and an operation guide unit 42 arranged around the trackball 41. The trackball 41 can determine both the scroll speed (high speed, medium speed, and low speed) and the scroll direction (forward scroll or reverse scroll) according to the rotation direction. Further, the trackball 41 can be pressed in the downward direction, and the target option C0 can be selected (determined as a selection target) by pressing. On the other hand, the operation guide unit 42 has a notation for assisting the user in operating the trackball 41. Specifically, the scroll speed and the scroll direction are indicated by the number and direction of overlapping angle bracket marks (inequality sign).

  Here, with reference to FIG. 3, the scroll speed and the scroll direction operated by the rotation operation unit 40 will be described in detail. As shown in the figure, when the trackball 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow D1a (the downward direction in the figure), the scroll display displayed on the display 21 can be advanced at a low speed. That is, if the portable audio device 1 can control the scroll speed to three stages of V1, V2 and V3 (V1: low speed, V2: high speed, V3: medium speed), V1 * N (however, N Is a constant that satisfies N> 0), the target option C0 can be incremented downward.

  Further, when the trackball 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow D2a (the right direction in the drawing), the scroll display displayed on the display 21 can be advanced at a high speed. That is, the target option C0 can be incremented downward at a rate of V2 * N (where V2 is a speed at which V2> V1) per second. Furthermore, when the trackball 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow D3a (lower right in the figure), the scroll display displayed on the display 21 can be advanced at a medium speed. That is, the target option C0 can be incremented downward at a rate of V3 * N (where V3 is a speed satisfying V2> V3> V1) per second.

  Conversely, when the trackball 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow D1b (upward in the figure), the scroll display displayed on the display 21 is moved backward at a low speed (the target option C0 is changed at a rate of V1 * N per second). Incrementing upward). When the trackball 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow D2b (the left direction in the figure), the scroll display displayed on the display 21 is moved backward at high speed (the target option C0 is increased at a rate of V2 * N per second). Incrementing in the direction). Further, when the trackball 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow D3b (upper left in the figure), the scroll display displayed on the display 21 is moved backward at a medium speed (the target option C0 is changed at a rate of V3 * N per second). Incrementing upward).

  However, when the trackball 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow Dn indicated by the dotted line (upper right direction and lower left direction in the figure, hereinafter referred to as “insensitive area En”, see FIG. 4), the display control means 30 ignores the operation. (Do not reflect on the display on the display means 20). Thus, by ignoring the operation in the predetermined direction, the user can be prompted to operate in the correct direction, and the operability can be further improved.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 4, the relationship between each operation direction (the rotation direction of the trackball 41) and the operation result will be described in more detail. In the drawing, the operation area of the trackball 41 is indicated by a circle (hereinafter referred to as “virtual circle 50”) in order to easily show the operation result corresponding to each operation direction.

  The virtual circle 50 is divided into eight fan-shaped regions having an inner angle of 45 ° around a reference point (hereinafter referred to as “virtual reference point 51”) serving as an operation start position for each operation result. For example, the region E1b is a region corresponding to the operation result of “scroll speed: low speed, scroll direction: backward”, and the same operation is performed when operated in any direction of the arrows 52 to 55 from the virtual reference point 51. It shows that the result is obtained. That is, when the operation direction is included in the area E1b, scroll control is performed so as to obtain an operation result of “scroll speed: low speed, scroll direction: backward”.

  Of the eight fan-shaped regions, two regions are assigned as the insensitive region En, and correspond to the shaded portion in FIG. These two dead areas En are arranged at positions facing each other around the virtual reference point 51 (positions that differ by approximately 180 °).

  In addition, the three regions E2a, E3a, and E1a arranged side by side are regions corresponding to “scroll direction: advance”, and each correspond to “scroll speed: high speed, medium speed, and low speed”. Further, the above three areas E2a, E3a, E1a are areas corresponding to the “scrolling direction: retraction”, and the three areas E2b, E3b, E1b separated by the two dead areas En are respectively “ "Scrolling speed: high speed, medium speed, low speed" is supported.

  In this way, by separating the scroll direction by the two insensitive areas En arranged at the opposing positions, two areas (areas E2a, E3a, E1a, and areas E2b, It is possible to make the user intuitively aware of the difference in the operation results of E3b and E1b).

  In addition, since the forward scroll function and the reverse scroll function at the same speed are assigned in response to the operation (rotation) of the trackball 41 in the forward direction and the reverse direction that differ by approximately 180 °, the user can intuitively operate the method. And is easy to use.

  Furthermore, since the scroll speed can be switched between a low speed and a high speed in response to an operation in the orthogonal directions (directions toward the areas E1a and E2a and the areas E1b and E2b), the scroll speed is switched depending on a slight difference in direction. In comparison, operation errors can be reduced. Further, since the low speed and the high speed are assigned in the orthogonal direction, it is easy to learn the operation method. Furthermore, the third direction corresponding to “medium speed” (the direction toward areas E3a and E3b) corresponds to the first direction corresponding to “low speed” (the direction toward areas E1a and E1b) and “high speed”. Therefore, the user can intuitively adjust the speed and the operability is good because it is located approximately in the middle of the second direction (the direction included in the areas E2a and E2b).

  In the above example, two insensitive areas En are provided in order to make the user aware of the difference in the scroll direction. However, as shown in FIG. May be provided. In this case, the virtual circle 50 is divided into eight fan-shaped regions having an inner angle of 45 ° with the virtual reference point 51 as the center, and the operation of “scroll speed: low speed, scroll direction: backward” is performed clockwise from the top. The region E1b corresponding to the result, the insensitive region En, the operation result of the region E2a corresponding to the operation result of “scroll speed: high speed, scroll direction: forward”, and the operation result of “scroll speed: low speed, scroll direction: forward”. The corresponding area E1a, the insensitive area En, the area E2b corresponding to the operation result of “scroll speed: high speed, scroll direction: backward”, and the insensitive area En are arranged in this order.

  As described above, by disposing the insensitive area En in each of the portions having different scroll directions or scroll speeds, it is possible to clearly make the user aware of the difference in the operation result corresponding to each area and reduce the operation mistake.

  Note that although it can be said in common in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, the respective fan-shaped regions do not have to have the same area, and may have different inner angles. In addition, in the insensitive area En, the inner angle may be set to be smaller than other areas, for example, the inner angle may be set to about 10 °.

  In addition, instead of the idea of providing an area for each scroll speed, the scroll speed may be variable in multiple steps by fine angle adjustment. FIG. 6 shows an example of a virtual circle 50 when the scroll speed is varied in multiple stages. The example of the figure is the same as the example shown in FIG. 4 in that the user is made aware of the difference in the scroll direction by the insensitive area En arranged at the opposite position, but the two insensitive areas En It is roughly divided into two areas, a forward scroll area Ea and a reverse scroll area Eb, and is different in that the scroll speed can be varied in multiple stages within each area Ea, Eb.

  In the forward scroll region Ea, when the trackball 41 is rotated from the virtual reference point 51 toward the lower side in the figure, the scroll speed is set to the slowest speed, and the rotation direction from the virtual reference point 51 is directed to the right side (upper side). The scroll speed is set to be higher (as it goes from the arrow 61 to the arrow 66). Further, in the backward scroll region Eb, when the trackball 41 is rotated from the virtual reference point 51 toward the upper side in the figure, the scroll speed is set to the lowest speed, and the direction of rotation from the virtual reference point 51 is on the left side (lower side). The scroll speed is set to increase as it goes.

  As described above, the position and number of the dead areas En in the virtual circle 50, the position and the number of divisions of other areas, and the like can be arbitrarily set.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the scroll speed of the scroll display can be varied only by changing the operation direction of the trackball 41. As a result, the user can easily and quickly adjust the scrolling speed with one-handed operation, and as a result, the user can comfortably select an option. In addition, since the track ball 41 is employed, it can be operated in all directions of 360 °, so that fine angle adjustment is easy and the scroll speed can be varied more comfortably.

  In the above-described embodiment, the rotation operation unit 40 that can be operated in all directions of 360 ° is exemplified as the operation means 10. However, the present invention is not limited to any pointing device that can be operated in at least two directions, such as a seesaw button. Applicable. For example, in the case of a seesaw button that can be operated up and down, it is possible to realize high-speed scrolling by pressing up and low-speed scrolling by pressing down. Also, a track pad can be used as the operation element 11. In this case, it is possible to control the scrolling speed and the scrolling direction by sensing the direction in which the fingertip traces with the place where the fingertip first touched as the virtual reference point 51.

  Further, the detection of the operation direction is preferably performed every unit time from the start of the operation of the operation means 10, and the scroll speed is preferably varied every unit time. According to this configuration, when the unit time is set to, for example, 0.05 seconds, the display control unit 30 detects the operation direction every 0.05 seconds and changes the scroll speed. The scroll speed can be reduced by changing the operation direction at the time of recognition. As a result, the possibility of failing to select a target option (passing through the target option) is reduced, and a search can be performed in a shorter time.

  Further, setting means may be provided in the portable audio device 1 so that it can be customized according to the user's preference, such as how to associate the scroll direction with the operation result, and how to deal with the position and number of the dead areas En. The program for realizing the customization means may be set in the portable audio apparatus 1 and set by operating the operation means 10, or may be set in an external apparatus such as a computer and set from the external apparatus. You may do it.

  In addition, the portable audio device 1 is given as an example of a device to which the present invention is applied. However, the portable audio device 1 is a device having display means capable of scroll-displaying a plurality of options and operation means capable of operating an operator in at least two directions. If so, the present invention can be applied to various electronic devices (for example, an operation remote controller, a car audio device, a car navigation device, a mobile phone, etc.) regardless of the contents of the options and the device form.

  Moreover, it is also possible to provide each part and each function in the portable audio apparatus 1 shown in the above example as a program. Further, the program can be provided by being stored in various recording media (CD-ROM, flash memory, etc.). That is, a program in which each component (each function) of the portable audio device 1 in the present embodiment and a recording medium on which the program is recorded are also included in the scope of the right of the present invention.

  In addition, the device configuration and processing steps of the portable audio device 1 can be appropriately changed without departing from the present invention, regardless of the above embodiment.

1 is a simplified block diagram of a portable audio device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of a portable audio apparatus. It is a figure which shows the scroll speed and scroll direction which are operated by the rotation operation part. It is a figure which shows the relationship between each operation direction and an operation result with a virtual circle. It is a figure which shows an example of a virtual circle different from FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the virtual circle in the case of changing scroll speed in multiple steps.

Explanation of symbols

  1: portable audio device, 10: operation means, 20: display means, 21: display, 30: display control means, 40: rotation operation unit, 41: trackball, 50: virtual circle, 51: virtual reference point, C: Choice, C0: Target choice, En: Insensitive area

Claims (10)

An operating means having an operating element and capable of operating the operating element in at least two directions;
Display means capable of displaying a plurality of options by scroll display;
Display control means for performing display control of the display means based on the operation of the operator,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit varies a scroll speed of the scroll display according to an operation direction of the operation element. The two directions are orthogonal directions;
The display control means controls an operation in the first direction, which is one of the two directions, so that the scroll speed is low, and the operation in the other direction is the second direction. 2. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation in the direction of 2 is controlled so that the scroll speed becomes high. The operation means is operable to operate the operation element in a third direction located substantially in the middle between the first direction and the second direction.
The electronic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display control unit controls the operation in the third direction so that the scroll speed becomes a medium speed. The operation means can operate the operation element in all directions of 360 °,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit varies the scroll speed in two or more steps according to an operation direction of the operation element. The operating means is provided with at least one insensitive area having an arbitrary angle of 360 °,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the display control unit ignores the operation of the operation element when an operation direction of the operation element is included in the dead area.   The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein a function for specifying a scroll direction including forward scroll and backward scroll is assigned to the operation means in accordance with each operation direction of the operation element.   The function of the forward scroll and the backward scroll is assigned to the operation means corresponding to the operation of the operation element in a forward direction and a reverse direction that differ by approximately 180 °. Electronic equipment.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit detects the operation direction every unit time from the start of operation of the operation unit, and varies the scroll speed every unit time. An operating means having an operating element and capable of operating the operating element in at least two directions;
A display means capable of displaying a plurality of options by scroll display, and an operation method of an electronic device,
A method of operating an electronic device, wherein a scroll speed of the scroll display is varied according to an operation direction of the operation element.   A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to realize the electronic device operation method according to claim 9.

Images