JP2010257315A - Apparatus and method for processing information, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing apparatus for defining the number of directions which a user wants to freely let have meanings on a screen or the positions of the directions. <P>SOLUTION: The information processing apparatus includes: a region division means for dividing a screen into a plurality of regions by inputting an orbit; an association processing execution means for executing processing associated with the regions; a movement instruction means for instructing a user to move the object to the regions; and an processing target instruction means for instructing the object whose movement is instructed by the movement instruction means as the object of processing of the association processing execution means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus or the like in which a user inputs instruction information.

  There are many information processing apparatuses including a display screen that can specify a display object according to a user instruction and execute processing on the object. For example, a personal computer or a digital camera that can be operated by a GUI is an example. In these information processing apparatuses, data stored in the apparatus, image data captured by the terminal, and the like are displayed on the screen as objects, and operations on the objects can be performed. Specifically, a specific object can be specified by a user instruction using a keyboard, a mouse, a cursor key, or the like, and processing to be performed on the object specified from the operation menu can be selected.

  On the other hand, there is also a method of instructing a processing desired by a user first and instructing a processing target at the time of execution. For example, it is possible to select a menu button on the display screen, select a desired menu (process) from the menu list displayed as a result, and instruct the processing target when executing the menu (process). .

  However, in the method of specifying an object and then specifying a process for the object, the user has to perform a plurality of operations. In addition, in the method of instructing the processing desired by the user first and instructing the processing target at the time of execution, the processing target cannot be instructed intuitively. For this reason, in any of the methods, the user cannot easily execute a desired process.

In order to solve this problem, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 have proposed methods that make it possible to change the process depending on the direction indicated by giving a meaning to the direction on the display screen.
In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a pen is moved in an arbitrary direction after pressing a menu generation point with the pen, a menu determined in advance according to the moved direction and distance is displayed. Can do.
Further, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, a corresponding mail address can be searched based on a trajectory in which the pointing device moves in the vertical and horizontal directions.
In addition, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 can record the contents input by hand such as characters and figures as electronic information, and recognizes it as a partition line by drawing a horizontal line by hand, Can be divided and recorded.

JP 2002-007023 A JP 2006-277314 A JP 2003-225209 A

However, in the technique of Patent Document 1 described above, it is necessary to register the direction and distance of movement of the pen in advance, and the user cannot freely define the number and directions of the directions.
Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2 described above, it is necessary to register a locus of the pointing device and a search key corresponding to the locus in advance, and the user cannot register an arbitrary number of tracks.
Further, in the technique of Patent Document 3 described above, the area is divided by drawing a line, but the area cannot be given meaning.

Therefore, the user cannot freely define the direction such as the number of directions and the position of the direction that the user wants to make sense, which is inconvenient.
In view of the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a method by which a user can define the number of directions and the position of directions that the user wants to make sense.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and includes an area dividing unit that divides a screen into a plurality of areas by a trajectory input, and a corresponding process execution unit that executes a process associated with the area. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to freely divide a screen into an arbitrary number of arbitrary areas by a user's trajectory input. In addition, the user can easily perform processing operations on the apparatus using the divided areas.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of information processing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of information processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the whole process of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user input of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of user operation using the division area of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the whole process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the input position detection process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the division | segmentation reference point calculation process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user input of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the gravity center and division | segmentation reference point of the input position of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the area dividing line of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of user operation using the division area of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of user operation using the division area of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of user operation using the division area of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the whole process of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user input of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the gravity center and division | segmentation reference point of the input position of 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the whole process of 4th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user input of other embodiment.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.
The information processing apparatus 101 includes an area dividing unit 102 and a corresponding process execution unit 103.
The area dividing unit 102 divides the screen into an arbitrary number of arbitrary areas based on the trajectory input 104.
The corresponding process execution unit 103 executes a process corresponding to the area divided by the area dividing unit 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.
The CPU 202 performs calculations and logic determinations for various processes, and controls each component connected to the bus 201. The apparatus includes a memory including a program memory and a data memory. The program memory stores a program for control by the CPU 202, including a processing procedure described later with reference to the flowchart. The memory may be the ROM 203 or the RAM 204 into which a program is loaded from an external storage device or the like. The input device 205 is for inputting information from the user. The input device 205 includes a mouse, a touch panel, a keyboard, and the like. The display device 206 is a CRT, a liquid crystal display, or the like.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which a user can freely divide a screen into an arbitrary number of areas by drawing and instructing a boundary for dividing the screen on the screen with a line or the like. .
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of overall processing according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, steps S301 to S310 represent each step.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a locus input by the user for region division according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, 401 is an information processing apparatus to which this embodiment can be applied. Reference numeral 402 denotes a screen display unit.
Here, it is shown that the user draws a line segment AB403, a line segment CD404, and a line segment EF405 by using a digitizer input such as a mouse or handwriting, and inputs a trajectory for segmentation. Reference numerals 406 to 414 denote objects displayed on the screen.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user operation according to this embodiment.
The user selects the operation target object 501 after inputting the trajectory for area division in FIG. 4 and performs an operation of moving in the direction of the area (1) as in 502.

Here, the flow of processing in FIG. 3 in the case where the user performs input as shown in FIG. 4 for area division and then performs the operation as shown in FIG. 5 using the divided areas will be described. .
First, in step S301, an initial setting of processing of the present embodiment related to the information processing apparatus is acquired. The settings acquired here may include the end timing of user input acquisition and the like. As the timing of termination, for example, the user explicitly notifies the apparatus that the trajectory input is terminated, or the time interval from the end of the previous user's trajectory input to the start of the next trajectory input is a certain time or more. Etc. may be set in advance.

  In step S302, a user's trajectory input for area division is acquired, and in step S303, a trajectory interpretation process is performed to interpret a trajectory for dividing the area from the user's trajectory input. In the present embodiment, the coordinate sequence of each line segment is acquired from three locus inputs of the line segment AB403, the line segment CD404, and the line segment EF405 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the screen area is divided on the user trajectory.

  Subsequently, in step S304, it is determined whether or not the user's trajectory input for region division is completed. In the present embodiment, the condition for which this determination is true is preset in the apparatus and is acquired in the initial setting acquisition in step S301. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the time interval from the end of the previous user's trajectory input to the start of the next trajectory input is set as a certain time or more as the condition.

  In the present embodiment, in the determination in step S304, the user repeats the processing from step S302 to step S303 for drawing the line segment AB403, line segment CD404, and line segment EF405 shown in FIG. When the process for the line segment EF405 is completed, it is determined that the user's trajectory input for area division has been completed, and the process flow proceeds to step S305.

Subsequently, in the area division execution process in step S305, a process of dividing the screen into areas is performed based on the trajectory information obtained from the plurality of user trajectory inputs acquired in step S303. In the present embodiment, since it is interpreted that the screen area is divided on the user locus, the area is divided on the line segment input by the user locus. In the present embodiment, as a result of step S305, the coordinate sequence of the line segment AB403, line segment CD404, and line segment EF405 shown in FIG. 4 drawn by the user is surrounded by the frame of the screen (1) to (5). Are divided into five areas.
Here, when the plurality of position information input by the user does not clearly divide the screen, for example, when the closed region cannot be formed only by the line drawn by the user, an extension line of the line is displayed. A method may be employed in which a closed region is created and divided into divided regions.
Thereafter, the user can process an operation on the information processing apparatus using the areas (1) to (5) divided in step S305.

  In step S306, initial processing for processing a user operation is performed using the area divided in step S305. Here, information on the area divided in step S305 is acquired, or initial settings are acquired. The settings acquired here may include the timing for releasing the divided area, the initial value of the process performed corresponding to each area divided by the process in the present embodiment, and the like. The timing for releasing the divided area is set such that, for example, the user notifies the apparatus that the divided area is to be released, or the number of times of processing in step S308 exceeds the set number of times. May be.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that “the processing is completed for all objects displayed on the screen” is set as the timing for releasing the divided area. In addition, the initial value of the processing to be performed corresponding to each divided area is set as “If the object is moved into the divided area, the target object is classified in relation to the area”. Suppose that That is, when an object is moved to the area (1), the object is classified in association with the area (1), and is assigned to (1).

Subsequently, in step S307, the user's operation is determined. If the user performs an operation related to the divided area, it is determined in step S307 that the user has given a movement instruction, and the process proceeds to step S308.
In step S308, a process target instruction is performed with the user movement instruction target as a process target.
Furthermore, it progresses to step S309 and the process corresponding to the area | region which the user instruct | indicated is performed. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the process executed here is the process acquired in the initial setting acquisition of the area correspondence process in step S306.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, when the user selects an operation target object 501 and performs an operation of moving in the direction of the area (1) as in 502, the user moves in step S307. It is determined that an instruction has been given, and the process proceeds to step S308.

  Subsequently, in the step S308, the processing acquired in the initial setting acquisition of the region correspondence processing in the step S306 “when the object is moved into the divided region, the target object is classified in relation to the region” Execute. That is, since the object has been moved to the area (1), the object is classified in association with the area (1) and distributed to (1).

If the user operation is not related to the divided area, the process proceeds from step S307 to the end determination of the process in step S310.
In step S310, it is determined whether or not to release the area divided by the process in step S305. If the determination in step S310 is YES, the division of the area is canceled and the entire process is terminated. In the case of No, the process returns to step S307, and the user operation is determined. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the condition for which this determination is true is set in advance in the apparatus, and is acquired in the initial setting acquisition of the area correspondence processing in step S306.

  In the present embodiment, “the processing is completed for all objects displayed on the screen” is set as the timing for releasing the divided area. Therefore, until the sorting operation for all objects displayed on the display screen is completed, the determination in step S310 is No, and the process returns to step S307. When the sorting operation for all objects is completed, the determination in step S310 is true, the divided area is released, and the process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user draws and designates the boundary for dividing the screen on the screen with a line or the like, so that the display screen can be placed in an arbitrary number of arbitrary regions. Can be divided freely. The user can easily perform processing operations on the apparatus using the divided areas.

(Second Embodiment)
In the present embodiment, in order to divide an area, the user recognizes the area instruction command by drawing and instructing an arbitrary object on the screen, and displays an arbitrary number of arbitrary areas on the display screen. Shows an example that can be divided freely. In addition, an example in which processing can be explicitly assigned to a divided area by the area instruction command is shown.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of overall processing according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 6, steps S601 to S616 represent each step.
Compared with the overall processing of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, this processing is added with the locus input position detection processing in step S604 and the division reference point calculation processing in step S607. The locus input position detection process in step S604 will be described later with reference to FIG. 7, and the division reference point calculation process in step S607 will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of user trajectory input according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes an information processing apparatus to which this embodiment can be applied. Reference numeral 902 denotes a screen display unit.
Here, it is shown that the user has drawn a trajectory input 903, 904, 905, 906, 907 using a digitizer input such as a mouse or handwriting, and has performed a trajectory input for region division. Reference numerals 908 to 912 denote trajectory input positions, which are positions representing the respective trajectory inputs, obtained from the result of the trajectory input position detection process in step S604 in the present embodiment.
Reference numerals 913 to 921 denote objects displayed on the screen.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of the center-of-gravity calculation process in step S606 and the division reference point calculation process in step S607 in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is used to explain the processing in step S606 and step S607. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 1001 denotes a polygon drawn by the locus input positions 908, 909, 910, 911, and 912. Reference numeral 1002 denotes the center of gravity of the polygon 1001. Reference numerals 1003 to 1007 denote the midpoints of the sides of the polygon 1001.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of the area division execution process in step S608 in the second embodiment. In FIG. 11, reference numerals 1101 to 1105 denote line segments indicating the boundaries of the area divided by the processing of this embodiment.

Here, the flow of the processing of FIG. 6 in the present embodiment when the user performs input as shown in FIG. 9 for region division will be described.
From step S601 to step S603, processing is performed in the same manner as step S301 to step S303 of the first embodiment.
In the present embodiment, a coordinate sequence of each locus input is acquired from five pieces of locus information of locus inputs 903, 904, 905, 906, and 907 in the locus interpretation process in step S603. Here, an area instruction command for dividing the area is extracted from the trajectory inputs 903, 904, 905, 906, and 907. In the present embodiment, it is interpreted that the screen area is divided between the extracted area instruction commands, particularly in the middle thereof.

Subsequently, in step S604, coordinates representing each area instruction command are detected as the position of the area instruction command. The flow of this process is shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the area instruction command position detection process in step S604 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 7, steps S701 to S703 represent each step.
First, in step S701, user trajectory input information obtained in step S603 is acquired.
Subsequently, in step S702, an area reference command position detection reference is acquired. This reference may be preset in the apparatus, or the user may be able to change the setting value of the apparatus. Here, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the detection reference for the region designation command position is defined as a rectangle that includes all of the user's trajectory input information, that is, the center of gravity of the rectangle that surrounds the trajectory input.

In step S703, the area instruction command position is detected based on the detection instruction of the area instruction command position.
When the process of step S604 is completed, it is subsequently determined in step S605 whether or not the user's trajectory input for region division has been completed. In the present embodiment, the condition for which this determination is true is preset in the apparatus, and is acquired in the initial setting acquisition in step S601. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the time interval from the end of the previous user's trajectory input to the start of the next trajectory input is set as a certain time or more as the condition.

In the present embodiment, when the user draws the trajectory input 903, the processing from step S602 to step S604 is performed, and when the input position 908 is detected, the user's next input 904 is started in the determination of step S605. Is detected. Accordingly, the process returns to step S602 again. In this way, the processing from step S602 to step S604 is repeated for the drawing of the trajectory input from 903 to 907, respectively. When the process ends, in step S605, it is determined that the user's trajectory input for area division has ended, and the flow of the process proceeds to step S606.
As a result of the processing so far, it is assumed that the input positions of the five pieces of input information of the locus inputs 903, 904, 905, 906, and 907 are detected as 908, 909, 910, 911, and 912, respectively, in step S703. .

  In step S606, the center of gravity is calculated. In this embodiment, the center of gravity is calculated from a polygon formed by the input positions 908, 909, 910, 911, and 912. There are generally several methods for this calculation. For example, it can be obtained as follows. First, a reference point is determined in order to examine the positional relationship between the input positions. In this embodiment, the lower left coordinate of the screen 902 is (0, 0), the vertical direction is the y axis, and the horizontal direction is the x axis. For example, the reference points are the trajectory input positions 908, 909, 910, 911, The vertex 912 having the smallest y-coordinate value (= y0) among 912 is assumed. Then, a straight line of y = y0 is virtually drawn, and an angle α by a line segment connecting the straight line and the reference point and each vertex is obtained for each locus input position. As a result, if the points are sorted in ascending or descending order for each angle α, the vertices are arranged in order so that a polygon is drawn. In the present embodiment, when the points are arranged in descending order with respect to the angle α, they are arranged in the order of 908, 909, 910, and 911, and when a line is drawn in that order, a polygon such as 1001 shown in FIG. 10 is drawn. If this polygon is divided into a plurality of triangles, and the area and centroid of the divided triangles are integrated and divided by the total area, the centroid can be obtained. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that when a pentagon such as 1001 shown in FIG. 10 is divided into three triangles and a center of gravity is obtained, a center of gravity such as 1002 is obtained.

In step S607, a division reference point calculation process is performed. The flow of this process is shown in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a division reference point calculation process according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 8, steps S801 to S803 represent each step.
First, in step S801, all trajectory input positions are acquired. In this embodiment, locus input positions 908, 909, 910, 911, and 912 are acquired.

  Subsequently, in step S802, a division reference point calculation reference is acquired. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the division reference point calculation reference is “middle point of two adjacent points in a polygon composed of information on all trajectory input positions is a division reference point”. Using this division reference point calculation reference, in step S803, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006, 1007, which are the midpoints of the sides of the polygon 1001 composed of the locus input positions 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, are obtained. Are calculated as division reference points.

  In step S608, the display screen is divided into regions based on the center of gravity and the plurality of division reference points calculated in steps S606 and S607. Specifically, the screen is divided by drawing a line from the center of gravity to a plurality of division reference points and extending the line to the end of the display screen. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, each region is divided from the center of gravity G1002 to a plurality of division reference points a1003, b1004, c1005, d1006, and e1007. Here, the drawn line segments are a line segment Ga1101, a line segment Gb1102, a line segment Gc1103, a line segment Gd1104, and a line segment Ge1105, respectively. An identifier may be given to the divided area for identification. The identifier may be in numerical order, alphabetical order, or the like, or the result of recognizing a trajectory input input by the user using a trajectory input object recognition process such as character recognition or object recognition. Further, for example, the result recognized from the locus input input by the user may be associated with a specific object or process in the apparatus.

Thereafter, the user can process an operation on the information processing apparatus using the five areas divided in step S608. This process can be performed from step S612 to step S616, and is performed in the same manner as step S306 to step S310 of the first embodiment.
In the present embodiment, in the divided region category recognition process in step S609, the trajectory information input by the user is recognized as characters, and identifiers (categories) A, B, C, D, and E are recognized for the respective regions. .
Subsequently, in the proximity region determination process in step S610, a divided region closest to the trajectory information input by the user is determined.
Based on the determination result in step S610, in step S611, the identifier recognized in step S609 is associated as a process corresponding to the region determined in step S610.

  In this embodiment, in the preparation for the process corresponding to the area in step S612 and the initial setting acquisition, “the process is completed for all objects displayed on the display screen” as the timing for releasing the divided area. Is set. In addition, the initial value of the processing to be performed corresponding to each divided area is set as “If the object is moved into the divided area, the target object is classified in relation to the area”. Suppose that That is, when an object is moved to the area A, the object is classified in relation to the area A, and is assigned to A.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, if the user selects the operation target object 1201 and performs an operation of moving in the direction of the area A as in 1202, it is determined in step S613 that the user has issued a movement instruction. . At this time, the flow of processing proceeds to step S614, and the user's movement instruction target is instructed as the processing target in step S614. Further, in step S615, the process of “when the object is moved into the divided area is classified in relation to the area” acquired in the initial setting acquisition of the area corresponding process in step S612 is performed. Execute. In other words, since the object has been moved to the area A, the object is classified in relation to the area A and distributed to A.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 13, when the user selects the object 1301 to be operated and the object is moved to the area B as indicated by 1302, the object is classified in relation to the area B, and B Be distributed to.
Further, as shown in FIG. 14, the user selects the object 1401 to be operated, and the object is moved to the area D and distributed to D as indicated by 1402.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, in order to divide an area, a user can draw an arbitrary object on the screen and instruct the user to arbitrarily display the display screen based on the locus input. Can be freely divided into arbitrary regions. In addition, it is possible to specify processing to be allocated to the area divided by the user's trajectory input information.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, in order to divide the area, the user draws and designates an arbitrary object on the screen, and based on the size and size of the locus input, the size of the divided area of the display screen An example in which can be changed is shown.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the overall processing according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 15, steps S1501 to S1514 represent each step.
Compared with the overall processing of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, this processing has an area instruction command size calculation processing in step S1504 added. The area instruction command size calculation process in step S1504 will be described later in the description of the process flow of the present embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user's trajectory input according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 16, reference numeral 1601 denotes an information processing apparatus to which this embodiment can be applied. Reference numeral 1602 denotes a screen display unit.
Here, it is shown that the user has drawn a trajectory input 1603, 1604, 1605, 1606, 1607 using a digitizer input by a mouse or handwriting, and has input a trajectory for region division. Reference numerals 1608 to 1612 indicate trajectory input positions representing the respective trajectory inputs obtained from the result of the trajectory input position detection processing in step S1505 in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result of the center-of-gravity calculation process in step S1507 and the division reference point calculation process in step S1508 according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 17, reference numeral 1701 denotes a polygon drawn by input positions 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611, and 1612. Reference numeral 1702 denotes the center of gravity of the polygon 1701. Reference numerals 1703 to 1707 denote division reference points on each side of the polygon 1701. Reference numerals 1708 to 1712 denote line segments that indicate the boundaries of the areas that are divided by the processing of this embodiment.

Here, the flow of processing in this embodiment when the user performs input as shown in FIG. 16 for region division will be described.
From step S1501 to step S1503, processing is performed in the same manner as step S601 to step S603 in the second embodiment.
In this embodiment, in step S1503, the coordinate sequence of each locus input is acquired from the five locus input information of locus inputs 1603, 1604, 1605, 1606, and 1607.
In the area instruction command size calculation process in step S1504, the size of the trajectory input is calculated from the coordinate sequence of each trajectory input obtained in step S1503. There are many methods for obtaining the distribution area of the coordinate sequence, but in this embodiment, the rectangular area composed of the smallest x coordinate value and y coordinate value and the largest x coordinate value and y coordinate value in the coordinate sequence. Is calculated as the size of the trajectory input.

Subsequently, in step S1505, 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611, and 1612 are detected as locus input positions corresponding to five pieces of locus input information of locus inputs 1603, 1604, 1605, 1606, and 1607, respectively.
When the user finishes drawing the trajectory input 1607, the determination in step S1506 proceeds to step S1507, and the center of gravity calculation process is performed in step S1507. In step S1507, the center of gravity 1702 of the polygon 1701 composed of the input positions 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611 and 1612 is calculated.

In step S1508, a division reference point calculation process is performed. Here, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the division reference point calculation reference acquired in step S802 of the division reference point calculation process shown in FIG. 8 is set as follows.
Division reference point calculation reference = “A point obtained by dividing each side of a polygon composed of information on all input positions by a ratio of sizes to two adjacent locus inputs is set as a division reference point”. The position of the division boundary is changed according to the size of the instruction command, and the position of the reference point is further away as the size of the area instruction command is larger.
Using this division reference point calculation criterion, in step S803, each side of the polygon 1701 composed of the input positions 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611 and 1612 is divided by the ratio of the size of adjacent trajectory inputs. A division reference point is calculated. Here, the calculated division reference points are 1703, 1704, 1705, 1706, and 1707.

In step S1509, processing for dividing the display screen into regions is performed on the center of gravity and the plurality of division reference points calculated in steps S1507 and S1508. Specifically, the screen is divided by drawing a line from the center of gravity to a plurality of division reference points and extending the line to the end of the display screen.
In this embodiment, line segments are drawn from the center of gravity G ′ 1702 to a plurality of division reference points a ′ 1703, b ′ 1704, c ′ 1705, d ′ 1706, and e ′ 1707, thereby dividing the region. Here, the drawn line segments are a line segment G′a′1708, a line segment G′b′1709, a line segment G′c′1710, a line segment G′d′1711, and a line segment G′e′1712. .

Subsequently, in the present embodiment, in the divided region category recognition processing in step S1510, the trajectory information input by the user is character-recognized, and identifiers (categories) A, B, C, D, and E for the respective regions. Recognize
Thereafter, the user can process an operation on the information processing apparatus using the five areas divided in step S1509. This process can be performed from step S1511 to step S1514, and is performed in the same manner as step S610 to step S613 of the second embodiment.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, in order to divide the area, the user draws and designates an arbitrary object on the screen, and the size of the locus input determines the size of the divided area of the display screen. The size can be changed.

(Fourth embodiment)
In step S306 of the first embodiment described above, initial processing for processing a user operation is performed using the area divided in step S305. Here, the initial value of the process performed corresponding to each area divided by the process in the present embodiment may be acquired.
In the present embodiment, an example in which a process association unit is newly provided so that the user can associate an arbitrary process with each divided area is shown. At the same time, an example of providing a corresponding process execution unit that executes a process associated with each area so that the process corresponding to the area designated by the user in step S308 can be executed is shown.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall processing according to the fourth embodiment.
In FIG. 18, steps S1801 to S1811 represent each step. Compared with the overall process of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, this process executes a process for setting an operation process corresponding to the divided area in step S1806 and a corresponding process for the divided area in step S1809. Processing has been added. In step S1806, the user himself / herself makes an inquiry as to what processing is associated with each area in order to associate an arbitrary process, and in step S1809, the process is associated with each area. Prepare to execute the process. In step S1809, processing associated with the divided areas in advance is executed according to the user's operation.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user can divide the area and set the operation processing desired by the user for the divided area, so that the user can use the divided area to perform the device. The processing operation can be simplified.

(Other embodiments)
In the calculation process of the center of gravity in step S606 of the above-described second embodiment, there may be a case where a polygon formed by a plurality of input positions cannot be calculated. For example, when the center of gravity is obtained by the above-described method, if two or more points of the reference point and the input position are on a straight line, the polygon is not always accurately drawn.

For example, as shown in FIG. 19, consider a case where locus inputs 1903, 1904, and 1905 are drawn and a locus input for region division is performed. Here, reference numeral 1901 denotes an information processing apparatus to which this embodiment can be applied. Reference numeral 1902 denotes a screen display unit. Reference numerals 1909 to 1917 denote objects displayed on the screen. Reference numerals 1906 to 1908 represent positions representing the respective trajectory inputs obtained as a result of the trajectory input position detection processing in step S604 in the present embodiment.
As described above, since the trajectory input positions 1906 to 1908 are aligned on a straight line, a polygon cannot be formed. Therefore, when a polygon composed of multiple input positions cannot be calculated, or when lines connecting adjacent trajectories are aligned, a division reference point is set between the trajectory input positions. The region may be divided by a line segment that is orthogonal to the straight line connecting the trajectory and passes through the division reference point. That is, a line segment indicating a boundary between regions to be divided may be drawn as 1918 and 1919 shown in FIG.

Further, in step S802 in the division reference point calculation process of the second embodiment described above, the division reference point calculation reference acquired is “the two adjacent points in the polygon composed of information of all input positions”. The midpoint is set as the division reference point. However, considering that the polygon may not be configured, another criterion may be used.
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which a line segment indicating the boundary of the area divided by the process of the present embodiment is displayed on the display screen as a result of the area dividing execution process. The line may not be displayed on the display screen.
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the result of the area division processing is displayed on the display screen has been described. However, a divided area changing unit that allows the user to check the divided area and freely move the boundary line. It is good also as a structure which can provide and can finely divide | segment a division area.

  Each means which comprises the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention mentioned above, and each step of the information processing method is realizable by the program memorize | stored in RAM, ROM, etc. of computer operating. This program and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program are included in the present invention.

  Further, the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium, and may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  The present invention supplies a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments directly or remotely to a system or apparatus. In addition, this includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101: Information processing apparatus 102: Area division part 103: Corresponding process execution part 104: Trajectory input 201: Bus apparatus 202: CPU
203: Storage device such as ROM 204: Storage device such as RAM 205: Input device 206: Display device

Claims (6)

A region dividing means for dividing the screen into a plurality of regions by trajectory input;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a corresponding process execution unit that executes a process associated with the area. Movement instruction means for instructing the user to move the object to the area;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a processing target instruction unit that instructs a target to be moved by the movement instruction unit as a processing target of the corresponding processing execution unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a divided region changing unit that changes a boundary of the region divided by the region dividing unit. The region dividing means includes
A trajectory interpretation means for interpreting the input trajectory input;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an area division execution unit that executes area division by interpretation of the trajectory interpretation unit. An area dividing step for dividing the screen into a plurality of areas by input of a locus;
An information processing method comprising: a corresponding process execution step for executing a process associated with the region. An area dividing step for dividing the screen into a plurality of areas by input of a locus;
A program for causing a computer to execute a corresponding process execution step for executing a process associated with the area.

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