JP2010061372A - Information processor, pointer designation method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To visually observe designation coordinates, and to achieve highly precisely input even by using a pointing device whose contact face is wide such as the finger in designating coordinates for a touch panel with respect to a screen of high resolution on which a compact terminal such as a PDA is loaded. <P>SOLUTION: The information processor includes: a contact detection means for detecting contacted coordinates and area; a means for calculating physical designation points based on the coordinates and area detected by the contact detection means; a means for calculating the logical designation points from the coordinates and area detected by the contact detection means and the physical designation points; and a means for notifying an OS and/or application program by using the calculated logical designation points as input coordinates. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having contact detection means capable of detecting contact, a program used in the information processing apparatus, and a pointer designation method.

  Recently, various information processing apparatuses are provided with a touch detection unit called a touch panel or a touch screen. In the information processing apparatus, a contact detection unit is used as contact detection means, and the coordinates indicated by the pointer are notified to software such as an OS (Operating System) and an application.

  As a related technique, there is a technique for increasing the designation accuracy of a coordinate designation method on a touch panel used in PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a portable terminal, or the like. As a method of increasing the specified accuracy, for example, the size of an icon or the like to be specified on the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is increased, and the area of the specifiable portion is increased, or the coordinates are adjusted by a tool having a thin tip such as a stylus. The method of improving the accuracy of the input position is taken by reducing the contact area with the screen, for example, by designating or sticking a sticker with a protrusion with a small contact point on the finger.

  Another example is an information processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1. The information processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 includes a touch pointing unit, a determination unit that determines which of the other mouse pointer inputs, and a position designation (coordinate designation) by the touch pointing unit. 8 is used to emulate a physical input point C306, which is a touch to the touch pointing means, to a pointed coordinate C307 of the cursor C308 by using a fixed special cursor C308 that combines an annular portion and an arrow portion as shown in FIG. It consists of display control means to rate. Whether or not the operation is coordinate designation by the touch pointer is determined by the determination means. When the input is performed by the touch pointer, the cursor C308 is read and displayed, and the length of the cursor C308 from the physical input point C306 is displayed. The coordinates (logical input points) obtained by adding (subtracting) are calculated and used.

  Another related technique is the computer input device described in Patent Document 2. Patent Document 2 describes a computer input device having means for calculating input coordinates and a contact area from input (contact) to a tablet.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-024841 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-272422

  However, the above-described technique still has a problem in the accuracy of coordinate designation desired by the user.

  That is, when the technique described in Patent Document 1 is used, even if it is not always necessary to separate the physical input point and the logical input point, a logical input point that is separated from the physical input point is set. On the other hand, there are cases where operability deteriorates.

  The reason is that it is based on the determination of whether or not the trigger for reading such a fixed cursor is input by a touch pointer, and in addition to a finger, input by an instrument with a thin tip such as a stylus is also used. This is because, for example, in the case where the touch pointer is operated with a tool having a thin tip such as a stylus, coordinates different from the designated coordinates are designated unnecessarily.

  Similarly, the second problem is that, in the method of Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the intended operation is not performed in the case where the application changes the cursor shape by the operation.

  The reason is that, according to Patent Document 1, the cursor shape is changed to a normal one when coordinates are specified, and a fixed cursor that displays both physical input points and logical input points that are spaced from the cursor shape by a predetermined interval is displayed. Even if the application has changed the cursor shape from an arrow to a finger shape by specifying the operating state, for example, the input mode, the input state cannot be determined by changing the cursor shape to a standard cursor. is there.

  The third problem is that the standard cursor does not always come to the intended display position depending on the designated coordinates in the method of Patent Document 1. The reason is that according to the relevant literature, the direction of the cursor is determined by the display position, or the direction is not changed by settings or buttons, etc. If you want to do so, you may not be able to specify it.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of selecting a desired designated position while making the designated point visible by calculating a logical designated point different from the physical designated point in an information processing apparatus having contact detection means. It is to provide.

  An information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a contact detection unit capable of detecting a contact coordinate and an area, a unit for calculating a physical designated point based on the coordinate and area detected by the contact detection unit, and the contact detection unit. It comprises means for calculating a logical designated point from detected coordinates and area and the physical designated point, and means for notifying the calculated logical designated point as input coordinates to an OS and / or an application program.

  According to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus having contact detection means, it is possible to select a desired designated position while making a designated point visible by calculating a logical designated point different from the physical designated point.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a planar positional relationship between the contact detection unit and the finger in the configuration of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a planar positional relationship between the contact detection unit and the stylus.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a contact detection unit 10, a display unit 20, a control unit 30, and a coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40. The control unit 30 functions at least as the contact area determination unit 101, the designated coordinate determination unit 102, the screen control unit 103, and the OS / application screen processing unit 104.

  Referring to FIG. 2, C301 is a cursor, C303 is a logical designated point, C304 is a physical designated point, F601 is a finger, and A401 is a contact area where the contact detection unit 10 is touched by a finger F601. V501 is an offset vector for calculating the logical designated point C303 from the physical designated point C304 and the contact area A401. The calculation of the offset vector V501 will be described in detail later.

  Referring to FIG. 3, C301 indicates a cursor, C302 indicates a logical designated point, and F201 indicates a stylus.

  The contact detection unit 10 is a device that detects contact with any input device or a finger on the contact surface and can detect the contact coordinates and area. The touch detection unit 10 may use a touch panel, a touch screen, or the like. Note that the contact detection unit 10 is physically arranged or formed on the display surface of the display unit 20 that displays an image or on the same surface. What is necessary is just to implement | achieve using an optical sensor or a pressure sensor with the density according to it for every element | device of pixels, such as a display. In addition, the contact detection means can detect the contact simultaneously with a plurality of sensors by scanning the contact in time series or the like.

  The display unit 20 is a device that actually displays the display information generated by the screen control unit 103 of the control unit 30.

  The control unit 30 is a physical device that actually executes the units 101, 102, 103, and 104 that perform arithmetic processing or control on each piece of information described above.

  The coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40 is a storage area that is provided in the storage unit and stores information on the physical designation point C304, the logical designation point C303, and the offset vector V501 output from the designated coordinate determination unit 102 for a certain period of time.

  The contact area determination unit 101 reads a signal related to the contact area A401 touched by the finger F601 or the like from the contact detection unit 10, and notifies the designated coordinate determination unit 102 of the area and position information of the contact area A401 as area range information. .

  Based on the area range information of the contact area A401 notified from the contact area determination means 101, the designated coordinate determination means 102 determines the coordinates of the physical designated point C304, which is the center point of the area, and further contacts the contact area A401. The offset vector V501 is calculated using the area, and the logical designated point C303 (coordinate information) is calculated. Further, the designated coordinate determination unit 102 records the determined or calculated information in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40 and also sets the logical designated point C303 as the designated coordinate indicated by the cursor C301 to be displayed on the display unit 20. Notify The logical designated point C303 may be expressed using the physical designated point C304 as a reference, or may be expressed using a GUI reference point defined by the OS.

  The screen control unit 103 generates display information of the cursor C301 using the information of the logical designated point C303 notified by the designated coordinate determining unit 102, and further notifies the OS / application processing unit 104 of the logical designated point C303. . The screen control unit 103 controls the screen displayed on the display unit 20 by outputting to the display unit 20 together with the display information for the GUI of the OS and application generated by the OS / application processing unit 104.

  Note that it is desirable to generate a plurality of pieces of display information of the cursor C301 in order to use them appropriately according to the state of the OS or application. The display information of the cursor C301 is obtained by rotating a prescribed cursor set for each OS or application.

  The OS / application screen processing unit 104 generates information for displaying the GUI generated by the OS or application on the screen, and further, based on the information of the logical designation point C303 notified by the screen control unit 103, the display coordinates of the cursor Or the status is notified to the screen control means 103.

  As a method for determining the physical designation point C304 that is the center point of the contact area A401, for example, a method that uses the center point with respect to the upper, lower, left, and right ends of the contact area A401 or a method that uses the center of gravity of the area of the contact area is used. It ’s fine.

The above-described units and means generally operate as follows.
When a contact area is formed on the touch panel surface by a finger or other object, the contact detection unit 10 notifies the contact area determination unit 101 of a signal corresponding to the contact area.

  The contact area determination unit 101 digitizes information on the contact surface between the detected object that has contacted the contact detection unit 10 and the contact detection unit 10 from the signal indicating the area range information generated by the contact detection unit 10, and The designated coordinate determination means 102 is notified as area range information.

  The designated coordinate determining means 102 determines the coordinates of the physical designated point C304 of the contact portion from the position information of the contact area A401 based on the area range information of the contact area A401 notified from the contact area determining means 101, and the contact area A401. The size of the offset vector V501 is calculated from the area of the offset vector V501, and the direction of the offset vector V501 is determined using the above two pieces of information and the area range information of the original contact area A401. Based on the information on the designated point C304, information on the logical designated point C303 is calculated and notified to the screen control means 103.

  The screen control unit 103 generates display information of the cursor C301 based on the information on the logical designated point C303 notified from the designated coordinate determining unit 102.

  Further, the screen control means 103 notifies the OS / application screen processing means 104 of the information on the logical designated point C303, and receives the display information of the GUI of the OS or application generated as a result.

  Further, the screen control unit 103 combines the display information of the cursor C301 generated above and the screen display information of the OS or application GUI notified from the OS / application screen processing unit 104 to display an image to be displayed on the display unit 20. Display information is generated and notified to the display unit 20.

  The OS / application screen processing means 104 determines the screen information of the OS and applications, the shape of the cursor on the screen, and notifies the screen control means 103 of the information.

  The display unit 20 displays an actual screen using the display information notified by the screen control unit 103.

  Next, the overall operation of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing apparatus 1.
The control unit 30 of the information processing apparatus 1 uses the contact area determination unit 101 to acquire the state of the contact detection unit 10, and the contact state to the contact detection unit 10 with the finger F601, the stylus S201, or the like (the state of the contact area A401) ) Is acquired (S1).

  Next, the control unit 30 determines the contact state between the acquired contact detection unit 10 and the contact object. When the contact object is detected (Yes), the V501 calculation process is called. If), tap determination processing is called (S2).

  When performing the V501 calculation process, the control unit 30 calculates the physical designated point C304 and the offset vector V501 based on the information acquired by the touch state acquisition (the process of S1) in the designated coordinate determination unit 102. In addition, the control unit 30 calculates a logical designated point C303. Further, the control unit 30 accumulates and records the calculated logical designation point C303, physical designation point C304, and offset vector V501 in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40 for a predetermined time (S3).

  When performing the tap determination process, the control unit 30 determines the presence / absence of tapping based on the result of the contact determination and the coordinate change and the contact state change in the past fixed time recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40. (S4).

  When performing the tapping process, the control unit 30 uses the OS / application screen processing unit 104 to indicate that the click operation has been performed on the coordinates of the logical designated point C303 held in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40. Then, the OS process / screen update process notified to the OS and / or application is called (S5).

  The control unit 30 uses the OS / application screen processing means 104 as the OS processing / screen update processing to notify the OS and the application of information on the logical designated point C303 and accompanying information (click information, etc.). As a result, the screen information to be rendered is processed, and the processed screen information is output to the display unit 20 using the screen control means 103 (S6).

Here, an example of the V501 calculation process and the tap determination process will be described in detail.
As a calculation method of the magnitude of the offset vector V501, for example, the following arithmetic expression (1) is used. Since the offset vector V501 is a vector, it can be expressed by its size and direction. The base point of the offset vector V501 is a physical designated point C304.
sqrt (2) * sqrt (min {β, max {area-α, 0}} / π) * γ (1)

  In the example of (1) above, α is a parameter (detection threshold) for determining the minimum value for the contact area. When the area of the contact area A401 is equal to or smaller than this value, the logical designated point C303 and the physical designated point C304 are made to coincide. In other words, a contact with the contact detection unit 10 that is equal to or less than the contact threshold is handled with the calculated value of the offset vector V501 as zero. β and γ are parameters applied according to the thickness of the user's finger, and calibration is performed at the start of system use so that the coordinates of the cursor C301 are displayed at an appropriate distance from the outer periphery of the finger.

The direction of the offset vector V501 is determined by the following method, for example.
As one method for determining the direction of the offset vector V501, the direction of the offset vector V501 is changed according to the area of the contact region A401.
In this method, for example, when a finger is laid down and brought into contact (with the belly of the finger down and in contact with the contact detection unit 10), the contact area is wide, and in this case, the finger is in front (downward direction of the screen). The vector is determined in the upper direction of the screen by assuming that the contact is made from the back to the back (upward direction of the screen). On the other hand, when the contact area is small, it is assumed that the coordinates are specified by raising the finger (by touching the tip of the finger), and in this case the vector is set so that the cursor is displayed on the front side of the raised finger. decide. For these intermediate states, the direction of the vector is determined so as to move in the form of tracing counterclockwise or clockwise around the outer periphery of the contact area.

Tapping is determined by the following process, for example.
1. Currently (in the moment of detection timing), when the finger F601, the stylus S201, etc. are not in contact with the contact detection unit 10, are in contact immediately before, and the contact time is shorter than a predetermined time. The tapping process (S5 process) is called without changing the coordinates of the logical designated point C303.
2. When the finger F601, the stylus S201, etc. are currently in contact with the contact detection unit 10 and have been in contact for a certain period of time until the present, and the time-series area change rate of the contact area A401 is below a certain level Are regarded as a change or designation of coordinates, and the coordinates of the calculated physical designation point C304 and logical designation point C303 and the information of the offset vector V501 are additionally recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40, and the logical designation point The screen control means 103 is notified of the coordinates of C303, and the OS process / screen update process is called.
3. In cases other than the above, it is assumed that no change in coordinates has occurred, the coordinates of the logical designated point C303 recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40 are notified to the screen control means 103, and the OS processing / screen is displayed. Call the update process.
Note that the above processing is performed on the assumption that no coordinate designation is performed by anything other than the contact detection unit 10. That is, when a moving operation process using a mouse pointer or a moving process using an OS or the like is performed, the specified coordinate moving process is executed.

  By adopting the above configuration and operation, the information processing apparatus 1 determines the coordinates of the logical designated point C303 pointed to by the cursor C301 in accordance with the area of the contact area A401 to the touch panel with the stylus S201, the finger F601, or the like. Therefore, without changing the display method of the cursor by special operation etc., even if the coordinate designation by any case, the cursor will not be hidden by the finger etc., and it will not move away from the designated coordinate such as stylus etc. High coordinates can be specified.

  In other words, the cursor position can be specified accurately and easily by using any input object with a small contact area such as a stylus from an object having a relatively large contact area with a touch panel such as a finger. . That is, in the designation by the contact object having a large contact area such as a finger, the cursor is displayed at a position away from the outer edge portion or the extension portion, so that the cursor is not hidden under the contact object, Coordinates can be specified. In addition, when a tool with a thin tip is designated, a cursor is displayed at the tip part, so that a position as designated by viewing can be designated.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the coordinates of the physical input point and the logical input point are different due to the coordinate designation by the finger or the like, the OS or application is not used for the coordinate designation. Since the original cursor shape defined by the above is used, the input state of the original application or OS can be visually recognized by the shape of the cursor.

  In other words, even if the designated coordinates are moved (adjusted) by various processes, it is possible to check an input state such as being processed with the same cursor shape as the original cursor or being processed in the background. In other words, instead of changing the cursor shape to a special shape, only the cursor is displayed at a distance from the physical contact point using the preset cursor shape. The input state of can be visually recognized as it is.

  That is, as described above, according to the present invention, a cursor is displayed according to information on a contact area between a screen such as a finger or a stylus that is touched to specify coordinates on a touch detection unit such as a touch panel. By shifting the coordinates to be moved to the outside of the actual contact location, special switching measures are available when specifying coordinates with a tool with a small contact area such as a stylus, or when specifying coordinates with a relatively large contact area such as a finger. The visibility of the coordinate designating cursor can be improved without executing.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the second invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same parts as those of the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is also omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a planar positional relationship between the contact detection unit and the finger in the configuration of the second embodiment.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the information processing apparatus 2 according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a contact detection unit 10, a display unit 20, a control unit 30a, and a coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a. The control unit 30a functions at least as the contact area determination unit 111, the designated coordinate / direction determination unit 112, the cursor control / input state determination unit 113, the screen control unit 114, and the OS / application screen processing unit 115.

  Referring to FIG. 6, C303 is a logical designated point, C304 is a physical designated point, C305 is a cursor, F601 is a finger, and A401 is a contact area where the contact detection unit 10 is touched by a finger F601. V501 is an offset vector for calculating the logical designated point C303 from the physical designated point C304 and the contact area A401. V502 is an offset vector generated by performing time series processing using information such as the offset vector V501. The calculation process of the offset vector V502 will be described in detail later.

  The control unit 30 a is a physical device that actually executes the means 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 for performing arithmetic processing or control of each piece of information acquired from the contact detection unit 10.

  The coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a is a storage area for storing information on the physical designation point C304, the logical designation point C303, the offset vector V501, and the offset vector V502 output from the designated coordinate / direction determination unit 112 for a certain period of time.

  The contact area determination unit 111 reads a signal related to the contact area A401 touched by the finger F601 or the like from the contact detection unit 10, and uses the shape and position information of the contact area A401 as area range information to the designated coordinate / direction determination function 112. Notice.

  The designated coordinate / direction determining unit 112 determines the coordinates of the physical designated point C304 that is the center point of the area based on the area range information of the contact area A401 notified from the contact area determining unit 111, and further determines the contact area A401. The offset vector V501 is calculated using the contact area and shape, and the direction and inclination of the touched finger, and the information is notified to the cursor control / input state determination unit 113.

  The cursor control / input state determination unit 113 performs time-series determination on the information of the offset vector V501 notified from the designated coordinate / direction determination unit 112, and stores the determination result in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40 as the offset vector V502. . In addition, the cursor control / input state determination unit 113 sets the logical designated point C303 indicated by the cursor C305 from the stored offset vector V502 and the coordinates of the physical designated point C304 notified by the designated coordinate / direction determining unit 112. Determine and notify the screen control means 114.

  The cursor control / input state determination unit 113 operates in two modes, ie, a coordinate designation mode and a vector determination mode, as states relating to coordinate designation. The mode at the start of system use starts from the vector determination mode.

  The screen control unit 114 generates display information of the cursor C305 by using the logical designated point C303 notified from the cursor control / input state determination unit 113 and the stored offset vector V502 information, and further executes the OS / application. Information on the logical designated point C303 is notified to the processing means 115. Further, the screen control unit 114 controls the screen displayed on the display unit 20 by outputting to the display unit 20 together with the display information for the GUI of the OS and application generated by the OS / application processing unit 115.

  Note that it is desirable to generate a plurality of pieces of display information of the cursor C305 in order to use them appropriately according to the state of the OS or application. Further, the display information of the cursor C305 is used by rotating a prescribed cursor set for each OS or application. In the rotation process, the direction of the offset vector V501 or the offset vector V502 is used to rotate the cursor C305 so that the direction of the cursor C305 is opposite to that direction.

  The display information of the cursor C305 is generated by storing in advance a cursor group indicating a large number of angles in the storage unit, and the cursor facing in the direction of the offset vectors V501 and V502 is selected from the cursor group. Anyway. That is, the display information of the cursor C305 may be rotated in any way as long as the cursor icon set in the OS or application can be rotated.

  The OS / application screen processing unit 115 uses the information of the logical designation point C303 notified by the screen control unit 114 to generate information for displaying a GUI generated by the OS or application on the screen, and the screen control unit 114. Notify

The above-described units and means generally operate as follows.
When a contact area is formed on the touch panel surface by a finger or other contact object, the contact detection unit 10 notifies the contact area determination unit 111 of a signal corresponding to the contact area.

  The contact area determination unit 111 digitizes information on the contact surface between the detected object that has contacted the contact detection unit 10 and the contact detection unit 10 from the signal indicating the contact range area generated by the contact detection unit 10, and The designated coordinate / direction determining means 112 is notified as area range information.

  The designated coordinate / direction determining means 112 determines the coordinates of the physical designated point C304 of the contact portion from the position information of the contact area A401 based on the area range information of the contact area A401 notified from the contact area determining means 111, and the contact The size of the offset vector V501 is calculated from the area and shape of the region A401.

  Furthermore, when the direction and inclination of the detected object (finger F601) touched on the touch panel can be calculated from the shape of the contact area A401, the designated coordinate / direction determining unit 112 can calculate the offset vector V501 based on the information. The direction is determined, and the information is notified to the cursor control / input state determination unit 113.

  On the other hand, if the direction of the contacted object cannot be calculated, the designated coordinate / direction determining unit 112 determines the direction of the offset vector V501 from the coordinates of the physical designated point C304 and the area of the contact area A401, Information is notified to the cursor control / input state determination means 113.

  In addition, the cursor control / input state determination unit 113 determines whether the state relating to the current coordinate designation is the vector determination mode or the coordinate designation mode.

  In the vector determination mode, the cursor control / input state determination unit 113 performs time-series processing on the value of the offset vector V501 for a certain time (Ct), generates a time-series average, and automatically changes the coordinate designation state. Change to the coordinate specification mode. The generated time-series average of the offset vector V501 is saved in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a as an offset vector V502 to be separately saved, and is held until the mode shifts to the vector determination mode again. That is, the offset vector V502 is calculated from the average of the offset vectors V501.

  In the coordinate designation mode, the cursor control / input state determination unit 113 uses the information of the offset vector V502 saved in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a and the physical designation point C304, and uses the logical designation point C303 and the cursor. The rotation angle of C305 is determined and notified to the screen control means 114.

  The coordinate designation mode includes a tapping operation on the touch panel with a finger or the like, a click operation with another input device, or other certain conditions (when the direction of the finger in contact with the contact detection unit 10 changes by a certain angle or more). It is canceled when it is satisfied, and it automatically shifts to the vector determination mode.

  The screen control unit 114 generates display information of the cursor C305 based on the information of the logical designated point C303 notified from the cursor control / input state determination unit 113 and the stored offset vector V502. At this time, as the display information of the generated cursor, information on the cursor C305 is generated so that the original cursor (currently set cursor) is opposed to the direction of the offset vector V502 with respect to the logical designated point C303. .

  Further, the screen control unit 114 notifies the OS / application screen processing unit 115 of the information on the logical designated point C303, and receives the display information of the GUI of the OS or application generated as a result.

  Further, the screen control unit 114 combines the display information of the cursor C305 generated above and the screen display information of the OS or application GUI notified from the OS / application screen processing unit 115 to display an image to be displayed on the display unit 20. Display information is generated and notified to the display unit 20.

  The OS / application screen processing unit 115 determines each screen information of the OS and application, the shape of the cursor on the screen, and notifies the screen control unit 114 of the information.

  The display unit 20 displays an actual screen based on the display information notified by the screen control unit 114.

  Next, the overall operation of the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing apparatus 2.
The control unit 30a of the information processing apparatus 2 acquires the state of the contact detection unit 10 using the contact region determination unit 111, and the contact state with the contact detection unit 10 (information of the contact region A401 and the physical designated point C304). Is acquired (S11).

  Next, the control unit 30a determines the contact state between the acquired contact detection unit 10 and the contact object. If the contact object is detected (in the case of Yes), the V501 calculation process is invoked. If), the mode determination process is called (S12).

  When performing the V501 calculation process, the control unit 30a calculates the physical specified point C304 and the offset vector V501 based on the information acquired by the touch state acquisition (the process of S11) in the specified coordinate / direction determination unit 112 ( S13).

  As a method for calculating the size of V501, the same process as the V501 calculation (the process of S3) in the first configuration of the present invention may be used. The direction of the offset vector V501 is determined by the following method, for example.

  For the direction of V501, for example, a direction equivalent to the direction of the finger in contact with the contact detection unit 10 or the direction in the V501 calculation (S3) in the first configuration of the present invention can be used.

  Also, the direction determination of the contact object in the above is a method of equally dividing the quadrilateral circumscribing the contact surface by up and down, left and right, or diagonal lines, and determining by their area ratio, or when the touch sensor of the touch panel is an optical sensor, It is possible to use a method of judging from the shape of the finger or, in some cases, the shape of a fingerprint or the like. At this time, the determination of the direction has a minimum value as a determination criterion, and when the determination criterion is not satisfied, the direction of the offset vector V501 is fixed or a specified value of the system is used.

  The offset vector V501 determined as described above is notified to the cursor control / input state determination unit 113, recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40 in time series, and used for calling the mode determination process.

  The control unit 30a determines whether or not the offset vector V502 is held in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a using the cursor control / input state determination unit 113, and if it is stored (in the case of Yes). Determines that the operation mode is the coordinate designation mode and calls the tap determination process. On the other hand, when the offset vector V502 is not stored (in the case of No), it is determined that the operation mode is the vector determination mode, and the V502 calculation process is called (S14).

  When the offset vector V502 is held and stored, the control unit 30a performs the following process as a tap determination process, as in the tap determination (the process of S4) in the first configuration of the present invention. That is, when performing the tap determination process, the control unit 30a determines whether or not tapping has occurred based on the result of the contact determination and the coordinate change or the contact state change in the past fixed time recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a. Determine (S15).

The tapping is determined by the following process, for example.
1. Currently (in the moment of detection timing), when the finger F601, the stylus S201, etc. are not in contact with the contact detection unit 10, are in contact immediately before, and the contact time is shorter than a predetermined time. This is regarded as a tapping operation with a finger or the like, and the tapping process (the process of S16) is called without changing the coordinates of the logical designated point C303.
2. When the finger F601, the stylus S201, etc. are currently in contact with the contact detection unit 10 and have been in contact for a certain period of time until the present, and the time-series area change rate of the contact area A401 is below a certain level In addition, information regarding the calculated physical designation point C304 and the like is additionally recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a, and the offset vector recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a is regarded as a change or designation of coordinates. The logical designation point C303 is determined using V502 and the physical designation point C304, added to the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a, notified to the screen control means 114, and mode change A (processing of S17) is called.
3. In cases other than the above, it is assumed that no change in coordinates has occurred, and the coordinates of the logical designated point C303 recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a are notified to the screen control means 103, and the OS process / screen is displayed. Call update (processing of S21).

  Note that the above processing is performed on the assumption that coordinate designation by a device other than the contact detection unit 10 is not performed.

  When performing the tapping process, the control unit 30a uses the OS / application screen processing unit 115 to indicate that the click operation has been performed on the coordinates of the logical designated point C303 held in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a. The OS and / or application is notified to call the mode change A process (S16).

  As the mode change A process, the control unit 30a deletes the information of the offset vector V502 and the physical designated point C304 recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a, and calls the OS process / screen update process (S17).

  On the other hand, when the offset vector V502 is not stored, the control unit 30a, as the V502 calculation process, causes the cursor control / input state determination unit 113 to most recently shift to the vector determination mode, and then specify the designated coordinate / direction determination unit 112. From the information on the physical designated point C304 notified to date and the information on the offset vector V501, the data satisfying the condition that their fluctuations are within a certain range is obtained at the time of the offset vector V501 and the physical designated point C304. A series average is calculated and a Ct determination process is called (S18).

  Next, as the Ct determination, the control unit 30a determines whether or not the time during which this process is continuously called is longer than Ct after shifting to the vector determination mode, and if it is long (in the case of Yes). Calls mode change B. On the other hand, when the called period is shorter than Ct (in the case of No), the logical designation point C303 and the cursor display are not finalized, and only the screen update process is performed by the OS side. Is called (S19).

  After the transition to the vector determination mode, when the time for which this process is continuously called is longer than Ct, the control unit 30a sets the offset calculated in the V502 calculation (the process of S18) as the mode change B. After the time series average of the vector V501 is set as the offset vector V502 and the coordinate average of the physical designation point C304 is combined and recorded in the coordinate / vector temporary storage area 40a, the operation mode is changed to the coordinate designation mode and the recorded offset The information of the vector V502 and the information of the physical designated point C304 are notified to the OS and application using the OS / application screen processing means 115, and the OS processing / screen update processing is called (S20).

  The control unit 30a uses the OS / application screen processing means 115 as the OS processing / screen update processing, and uses the OS / application for the information on the logical designated point C303 and accompanying information (click information and offset vectors V501, V502). The information on the screen drawn as a result is processed, and the processed screen information is output to the display unit 20 using the screen control means 114 (S21).

  In this configuration, when the finger is released from the touch panel before tapping, the area of the contact area A401 decreases, so that the coordinates of the cursor C305 move, or when the finger is first brought into contact with the touch panel in the vector determination mode. In addition, there is a problem that the contact area spreads rapidly and the time series average cannot be calculated correctly. For example, when the time series change of the area of the contact area A401 is a certain value or more, C304 is not moved. It can be solved by taking measures.

  By adopting the configuration and operation described above, the information processing apparatus 2 uses the direction of the object to be contacted with the contact detection unit 10 in addition to the effect produced by the information processing apparatus 1, and moves the cursor on the diagonal line with respect to the logical designated point. , And by further rotating and displaying the cursor image in the corresponding direction, it is possible to designate coordinates with higher visibility.

  Further, in the present embodiment, there are two modes relating to the coordinate designation: a coordinate designation mode and a vector determination mode. In the vector determination mode, the cursor coordinates are moved if the finger or the like has not touched the touch panel for a certain period of time. Since it is not possible, it is possible to prevent erroneous coordinates from being input to the application due to an erroneous operation such as accidentally touching the touch panel.

  That is, as described above, according to the present invention, a cursor is displayed in accordance with information on a contact area between a screen such as a finger or a stylus that is touched to specify coordinates on a touch detection unit such as a touch panel. By shifting the coordinates to be moved to the outside of the actual contact location, special switching measures can be used when specifying coordinates with a tool with a small contact area such as a stylus, or when specifying coordinates with a relatively large contact area such as a finger. The visibility of the coordinate designating cursor can be improved without executing.

  In other words, by using the present invention, it is possible to select a desired designated position while making the designated point visible by calculating a logical designated point different from the physical designated point in the information processing apparatus having the contact detection means. it can.

  If the configuration of the information processing apparatus of the present invention is described in a different expression from the above description, a control unit that performs various arithmetic processes, a contact detection unit as an input unit, a display unit as an output unit, ROM, RAM, HDD And a storage unit composed of a flash memory or the like. The storage unit stores an operating system, a driver for the contact detection unit, an application program, various settings of the information processing apparatus, and the like. Although the program of the present invention has been described as a driver for the contact detection unit, it may be operated by being incorporated into an operating system or an application program. Note that the program causes the control unit to detect a contact, a means for calculating a physical designated point, a means for calculating a logical designated point, a means for notifying the logical designated point as an input coordinate to the OS and / or application program, Means for detecting the shape of the part, means for calculating the contact direction of the contact object, and a cursor indicating the logical designated point function as screen display means for changing and displaying the angle.

  In addition, the specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above-described application example, and changes in a range not departing from the gist of the present invention are included in the present invention.

  The present invention can be applied to any information processing device as long as the information processing device has a contact detection unit capable of detecting contact. Also, the coordinates of pointers such as a cursor on a mobile terminal equipped with a touch panel, a PDA with a small screen size and high resolution, a smart PC, a small PC called PHS (Personal Handyphone System), and UMPC (Ultra Mobile Personal Computer) It is suitable for.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the planar positional relationship of the contact detection part and finger | toe in the structure of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the planar positional relationship of a contact detection part and a stylus. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing apparatus 1. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the planar positional relationship of the contact detection part and finger | toe in the structure of 2nd Embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing apparatus 2. It is a figure which shows the special cursor in the existing invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 2 Information processing apparatus 10 Contact detection part (physical apparatus)
20 Display unit (physical device)
30 Control unit (physical device)
40 Coordinate / vector temporary storage area (storage unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Contact area determination means 102 Designated coordinate determination means 103 Screen control means 104 OS / application screen processing means A401 Contact area of finger and touch panel C301 Cursor C302 Physical designated point (by stylus and touch panel)
C303 Logical designation point C304 Physical designation point (by finger and touch panel)
C305 Cursor F201 Stylus F601 Finger V501 Offset vector V502 Offset vector

Claims (21)

Contact detection means capable of detecting the touched coordinates and area;
Means for calculating a physical designated point based on the coordinates and area detected by the contact detection means;
Means for calculating a logical designated point from the coordinates and area detected by the contact detecting means and the physical designated point;
An information processing apparatus comprising: means for notifying the calculated logical designation point as input coordinates to an OS and / or an application program. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
Means for detecting the shape of the contact portion to the contact detection means;
Means for calculating the contact direction of the contact object from the shape of the contact portion;
Means for determining the logical designated point using the calculated contact direction when calculating the logical designated point;
An information processing apparatus comprising: The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An information processing apparatus comprising screen display means for displaying a cursor indicating a logic designated point by changing an angle using a preset cursor shape. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An information processing apparatus that calculates a logical designation point according to a thickness of a user's finger set in advance. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An information processing apparatus, wherein a logical designated point is set using a vector calculated based on a value detected by the contact detection means. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An information processing apparatus, wherein a cursor indicating a logic designated point is rotated using a vector calculated based on a value detected by the contact detection means. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A cursor state holding means having a mode that only calculates an offset with respect to a physical specified point for a predetermined time when calculating a logical specified point, and a mode for fixing the offset until the mode is canceled by tapping or clicking after the offset calculation. A characteristic information processing apparatus. Detecting contact coordinates and area using contact detection means; and
Calculating a physical designated point based on the coordinates and area detected by the contact detection means;
Calculating a logical designated point from the coordinates and area detected by the contact detecting means and the physical designated point;
And a step of notifying the OS and / or application program of the calculated logical designation point as input coordinates. A pointer designation method according to claim 8, wherein
Detecting the shape of the contact portion to the contact detection means;
Calculating the contact direction of the contact object from the shape of the contact part;
Determining the logical designated point using the calculated contact direction when calculating the logical designated point;
A pointer designation method characterized by comprising: The pointer designation method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein
A pointer designating method comprising: displaying a cursor indicating a logical designation point by changing an angle using a preset cursor shape. A pointer designation method according to any one of claims 8 to 10,
A pointer designation method characterized in that a logical designation point is calculated according to a preset thickness of a user's finger. A pointer designating method according to any one of claims 8 to 11,
A pointer designation method, wherein a logical designation point is set using a vector calculated based on a value detected by the contact detection means. A pointer designation method according to any one of claims 8 to 12,
A pointer designating method comprising: rotating a cursor indicating a logic designated point using a vector calculated based on a value detected by the contact detecting means. A pointer designation method according to any one of claims 8 to 13,
A pointer designation method comprising: a mode for calculating an offset for a physical designation point for a predetermined time when calculating a logical designation point; and a mode for fixing the offset until the mode is canceled by tapping or clicking after the offset calculation. A control unit of an information processing apparatus having contact detection means capable of detecting the contact coordinates and area,
Means for calculating a physical designated point based on the coordinates and area detected by the contact detection means;
Means for calculating a logical designated point from the coordinates and area detected by the contact detecting means and the physical designated point;
A program that functions as means for notifying an OS and / or an application program of the calculated logical designation point as input coordinates. The program according to claim 15, wherein
Means for detecting the shape of the contact portion to the contact detection means;
Means for calculating the contact direction of the contact object from the shape of the contact portion;
A program that, when calculating a logical designated point, functions as means for determining a logical designated point using the calculated contact direction. The program according to claim 15 or 16,
A program that causes the control unit to function as a screen display unit that displays a cursor indicating a logical designation point by changing an angle using a preset cursor shape. A program according to any one of claims 15 to 17,
A program characterized in that a logical designation point is calculated according to a preset thickness of a user's finger. A program according to any one of claims 15 to 18, comprising:
A program for setting a logical designated point using a vector calculated based on a value detected by the contact detecting means. A program according to any one of claims 15 to 19,
A program for rotating a cursor indicating a logic designated point using a vector calculated based on a value detected by the contact detection means. A program according to any one of claims 15 to 20,
Cursor state holding means having a mode in which the control unit only calculates an offset with respect to a physical designated point for a predetermined time when calculating a logical designated point, and a mode in which the offset is fixed after tapping or clicking to cancel the mode after the offset calculation. A program characterized by functioning as

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