JP2009223430A - Information processor, handwritten character input method, and handwritten character input program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress deterioration in character input efficiency when a handwritten character protrudes beyond an input frame for one character due to individual difference in strokes or the size of the character, which may deteriorate recognition rate and input efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: On a display device for displaying an image through a touch sensor, an input frame indicating a range for writing one character therein is displayed, information on locus of a character handwritten in the frame is acquired, a new input frame surrounding a range wider than the input frame is drawn if a range for the locus information for one character is beyond the range of the input frame, and one character corresponding to the locus information is recognized on the basis of the locus information for the one character written in the new input frame. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of inputting handwritten characters using a pen or the like on a computer, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus, a handwritten character input method, and a handwritten character input program for optimizing a region of characters to be input.

  A keyboard is often used to enter characters into a computer. Character input with a keyboard is easy and has the advantage of a large number of input characters per hour. On the other hand, with respect to miniaturization, a keyboard that requires a certain size in order to ensure ease of keystroke is disadvantageous in terms of mounting. As another input method, there is a case in which handwritten character recognition technology is used in which when a character is written on the screen of the device using a pen or the like, as in the notebook, the written character can be directly input.

  In the case of handwritten character input, an input frame having a predetermined size corresponding to one character is often provided in order to improve the character recognition rate. The user writes the characters one by one in an appropriate size in this frame, thereby ensuring the input efficiency together with the handwritten character recognition rate.

  However, when handwriting a character, it is conceivable that an input frame provided in advance protrudes depending on individual differences such as how to write the character and a size that the user can easily write. In this case, the recognition rate of handwritten characters decreases, and the input efficiency itself deteriorates.

For this reason, even when a handwritten character extends beyond the input frame and straddles the adjacent frame, for example, a character recognition device that recognizes as one character including a handwriting input in the adjacent frame has been proposed. (See Patent Document 1).
JP 11-259598 A

  In the case of handwritten character input, the input frame corresponding to one input character may protrude due to individual differences such as how to write characters and the size that can be easily written by the user, and there is a concern that the recognition rate decreases and input efficiency deteriorates. Is done.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even when a handwritten character protrudes from an input frame of a predetermined size, an information processing apparatus that can easily suppress a decrease in efficiency in subsequent character input. An object is to provide a handwritten character input method and a handwritten character input program.

With the information processing apparatus according to the present invention,
A display device capable of displaying an image, and a touch sensor that is provided so that an image displayed by the display device can be seen through the sensor and touches the surface of the display device to detect the position of the contact as position information. Handwritten input detection means for acquiring continuous position information detected by the touch panel that has been moved as trajectory information, and input frame drawing means for drawing an input frame indicating a range for writing one handwritten character on the display device And a handwritten character recognizing means for recognizing one character corresponding to the trajectory information based on the trajectory information for one character written in the input frame, a range where the trajectory information for one character exists. When the input frame exceeds the range of the input frame, the input frame drawing means draws a new input frame surrounding a wider range.

The handwritten character input method according to the present invention includes:
A display device for inputting a character by handwriting a character to be input on a touch sensor capable of detecting the touched position as position information, and displaying an image through the touch sensor An input frame indicating a range in which one character is written is displayed, continuous position information that is moved while touching the surface of the touch sensor is acquired as trajectory information, and a range in which the trajectory information for one character exists If the input range exceeds the range of the input frame, a new input frame that surrounds a range wider than the input frame is drawn, and the trajectory information is based on the trajectory information for one character written in the input frame. One character corresponding to the above is recognized.

The handwritten character input program according to the present invention is
A handwritten character input program executable by a computer for inputting characters by handwriting a character to be input on a touch sensor capable of detecting a contact position as position information. A step of displaying an input frame indicating a range in which one character is written on a display device for displaying an image; a step of acquiring continuous position information that has moved while touching the surface of the touch sensor; When the range in which the trajectory information for characters exceeds the range of the input frame, a step of drawing a new input frame that encloses a range wider than the input frame, and one character written in the input frame And recognizing one character corresponding to the locus information based on the locus information of minutes.

Even when a handwritten character protrudes from an input frame having a predetermined size during handwritten character input, it is possible to easily suppress a decrease in efficiency in subsequent character input.

(This embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a PC 100, a display 101, a pen 102, and buttons 103 are shown.

  The PC 100 is a portable personal computer such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). In the present embodiment, a PC on which no keyboard is mounted is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this shape.

  The display 101 is a display device mounted on the PC 100. For example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is used, and the PC 100 displays information to the user. In addition, a touch sensor that can detect that the display surface is touched with a finger or the like and the touched position is incorporated.

  The pen 102 functions as a pointing device (coordinate indicating device) by making contact with the surface of the display 101. In the present embodiment, a touch sensor is placed on the surface of the display 101. When a desired location on the display 101 is touched by the pen 102, the sensor senses the location, and position information on the desired location is input to the PC 100.

  The button 103 is used when the user operates the PC 100, and is configured to execute a function assigned to the button when the button 103 is pressed. In the present embodiment, the function assigned to the button 103 can be freely determined.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block configuration diagram of the PC 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a CPU 200, a main memory 201, a bus controller 202, an input / output controller 203, and a touch sensor 204.

  The CPU 200 is a central processing unit and controls the entire PC 100. It also has a function of executing a program and executing a predetermined process corresponding to the program.

  The main memory 201 is composed of a semiconductor memory, and is used as an area for storing programs and data when the CPU 200 processes the programs.

  The bus controller 202 has a function of controlling a bus for transmitting information between the components of the information device 100. The instruction from the CPU 200 reads / writes data in the main memory 201 via the bus or gives an instruction to other devices.

  The input / output controller 203 has a function of providing an interface between the CPU 200 and various input / output devices such as the display 101 and the button 102.

  The touch sensor 204 is arranged on the display surface of the display 101 built in the PC 100 main body, and the user using the PC 100 can set a desired position on the screen by directly touching the content displayed on the display 101. It is a sensor that can indicate. In general, the display 101 is made of a transparent material so as not to obstruct the display content. Alternatively, the touch sensor 204 can be configured without being limited to the above structure as long as the sensor can measure the position on the screen in contact with the pen 102.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a handwritten character input screen. FIG. 3 shows character input areas 300, 301 and 302 displayed on the display 101. Each character input area may be displayed anywhere on the display 101, but in this embodiment, an input area for three characters is displayed in the right direction from the first character in the lower left corner of the display 101. An example is shown.

  In this example, handwritten characters that are expected to be recognized as “A” are input to the character input region 300, and “I” and “U” are input to the character input regions 301 and 302. At the time of handwriting input, the user uses the pen 102 to make contact with the character input area displayed on the display 101 in the same manner as when handwriting with a normal writing tool with an appropriate size. In the present invention, it is not important which character input area corresponds to what character, but it is assumed that the user draws characters in order from the character input range on the left side, that is, in the manner of writing a sentence in horizontal writing. If the handwritten character in the character input area 300 is the first character, the PC 100 determines that the user has input the word “that”. Of course, the number of character input areas is not limited to three as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, a pen input unit 400, an input range determination unit 401, a handwritten character recognition unit 402, an input frame drawing unit 403, and an image generation unit 404 are shown.

  The pen input unit 400 has a function of acquiring trajectory data in which the pen 102 is in contact with the display 101 and moved based on information output from the touch sensor 204 placed on the surface of the display 101 using the pen 102. Have.

  The input range determination unit 401 has a function of determining a trajectory estimated as one character based on the trajectory data acquired by the pen input unit 400 and further determining a pen input range occupied by the trajectory. In this embodiment, the range indicated by the widest rectangle in the vertical and horizontal directions that includes a trajectory estimated as one character is obtained as the pen input range. In addition, there are a plurality of methods for estimating one of the trajectories input by the pen as one character. For example, the trajectories touching somewhere, for example, the trajectories intersect with each other can be combined into one character. An estimation method can be considered. Alternatively, when handwritten character recognition is performed prior to input range determination, information on a character recognized as one character can be acquired, and the range in which the character is drawn can be determined as a pen input range.

  The handwritten character recognizing unit 402 receives trajectory data input by handwritten characters in a character input area (for example, 300) recognized by the input range determining unit 401 from the trajectory data acquired by the pen input unit 400, and based on this data. It has a function of recognizing what characters the user has input. Since there are several known methods for handwritten character recognition, they are not detailed here.

  The input frame drawing unit 403 has a function of drawing a character input area (for example, 300) on the display 101. At this time, the character input area drawn by the input frame drawing unit 403 is drawn in a size recognized by the input range determination unit 401. That is, the size of the character input areas 300, 301, and 302 can be changed according to an instruction from the input range determination unit 401.

  The image generation unit 404 has a function of generating an image to be displayed on the display 101 by combining the trajectory data acquired by the pen input unit 400 and a character input area (for example, 300) drawn by the input frame drawing unit 403.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a handwritten character input screen according to the present embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when one character is input in the character input area 300 so as to cover the character input area 301, the character input areas 500, 501 and 502 are displayed as shown in FIG. In this example, the character input area is redrawn. At this time, the character input area 500 is set so that a handwritten character can be accommodated in the character input area 301.

When inputting characters by handwriting, it is considered that the size of characters that are easy to write for each user varies depending on individual differences. In the case of the PC 100 assumed in the present embodiment, a smaller character input area 300 and the like is advantageous because the amount of information displayed on the display 101 can be increased, but on the other hand, handwritten characters tend to be difficult. Furthermore, it can be estimated that the character drawn in the currently displayed character input area (for example, 300) is too narrow for the user in the current input frame. Therefore, when the situation shown in FIG. 5A is recognized, for example, as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flow of handwritten character input according to the present embodiment.

First, input information by the pen 102 is acquired from the measurement result of the touch sensor 204 via the pen input unit 400 (step S01).

Next, the input range determination unit 401 estimates the trajectory data estimated as one character based on the acquired pen input information, and obtains a range including the trajectory constituting the character (step S02).

  Next, the input range determination unit 401 determines whether or not the range exceeds the input frame of a character input area (for example, 300) (step S03). If it exceeds (Yes), the range obtained in step S02 is the region where the trajectory data for handwritten character recognition in which the character is to be input by handwriting, that is, the region to which the character input region (for example, 300) is assigned is obtained. The range to be input by handwriting is expanded so as to include (step S04). Next, the input frame drawing unit 403 is notified of the size of the input frame corresponding to the character input range of the enlarged handwritten character, and the character input region (for example, 300) displayed on the display 101 is changed to a new character input region (for example, 300). 500), redrawing is performed (step S05). Thereafter, the area recognized as a handwritten character is recognized in the size of this new character input area (for example, 500).

  Thereafter, the trajectory data input by handwriting in the character input area (for example, 300, 500) is transferred from the input range determination unit 401 to the handwritten character recognition unit 402, and handwritten character recognition processing for one character is performed (step S06).

  If comprised in this way, even if a handwritten character will protrude from the input frame of a predetermined | prescribed magnitude | size at the time of handwritten character input, it will become possible to suppress the efficiency fall in subsequent character input easily.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The figure which shows an example of the information processing apparatus concerning this embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the block block diagram of the information processing apparatus concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a handwritten character input screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the handwritten character input screen concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation | movement flow of the handwritten character input concerning this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

100 ... PC, 101 ... display, 102 ... pen, 103 ... button, 200 ... CPU, 201 ... main memory, 202 ... bus controller, 203 ... input / output Controller, 204 ... Touch sensor, 300, 301, 302 ... Character input area, 400 ... Pen input unit, 401 ... Input range determination unit, 402 ... Handwritten character recognition unit, 403 ... Input frame drawing unit, 404: image generation unit, 500, 501, 502 ... character input area

Claims (9)

A display device capable of displaying images;
A touch sensor that is provided so that an image displayed by the display device can be seen through the sensor, and that touches the surface of the display device to detect the touched position as position information;
Handwritten input detection means for acquiring continuous position information detected by the touch panel that has moved in contact as trajectory information;
An input frame drawing means for drawing an input frame indicating a range for writing one handwritten character on the display device;
Handwritten character recognition means for recognizing one character corresponding to the trajectory information based on the trajectory information for one character written in the input frame;
With
The information processing apparatus, wherein when the range in which the trajectory information for one character exists exceeds the range of the input frame, the input frame drawing means draws a new input frame surrounding a wider range.   2. The information according to claim 1, wherein when the new input frame is drawn, the input frame drawing unit redraws the input frame expanded so as to include a range in which the trajectory information exists. Processing equipment. When the input frame drawing means draws a plurality of input frames on the display device,
When the input frame drawing means draws the new input frame, the range surrounded by the plurality of input frames is widened, and the drawing position is adjusted so that the input frames do not overlap, and redrawing is performed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. A handwritten character input method for inputting characters by handwriting a character to be input on a touch sensor capable of detecting a contact position as position information,
On the display device that displays an image through the touch sensor, an input frame indicating a range in which one character is written is displayed.
The continuous position information that has moved while touching the surface of the touch sensor is acquired as trajectory information,
If the range in which the trajectory information for one character exists exceeds the range of the input frame, draw a new input frame that surrounds a range wider than the input frame;
A handwritten character input method for recognizing one character corresponding to the trajectory information based on the trajectory information for one character written in the input frame.   5. The handwritten character input method according to claim 4, wherein when the new input frame is drawn, the input frame is drawn so as to be an input frame expanded to include a range in which the trajectory information exists. In the case where a plurality of input frames are drawn on the display device so that continuous handwriting input is possible,
5. The drawing according to claim 4, wherein when drawing a new input frame, the drawing frame is redrawn by adjusting a drawing position so that the input frame is not overlapped while expanding a range surrounded by the plurality of input frames. Handwriting input method. A handwritten character input program executable by a computer for inputting characters by handwriting a character to be input on a touch sensor capable of detecting the contact position as position information,
Displaying an input frame indicating a range for writing one character on a display device that displays an image through the touch sensor;
Obtaining continuous position information as trajectory information, moved while touching the surface of the touch sensor;
When the range in which the trajectory information for one character exists exceeds the range of the input frame, drawing a new input frame surrounding a wider range than the input frame;
A handwritten character input program comprising recognizing one character corresponding to the trajectory information based on the trajectory information for one character written in the input frame.   8. The handwritten character according to claim 7, wherein the step of drawing a new input frame has a function of drawing so as to be an input frame expanded to include a range in which the trajectory information exists. Input program. When a plurality of input frames are drawn on the display device so that continuous handwriting input is possible,
The step of drawing a new input frame has a function of expanding a range surrounded by the plurality of input frames and redrawing by adjusting a drawing position so that the input frames do not overlap. Item 8. The handwritten character input program according to Item 7.

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