JP2012059019A - Information processor, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor capable of appropriately providing information.SOLUTION: An information processor includes: a shape information storage section 101 in which shape information of a plane object can be stored; an arranging information storage section 102 in which a plurality of arranging information pieces that can be arranged on the surface of the plane object is stored; an arranging information acquisition section 103 that acquires one piece of arranging information to be arranged on the surface of the plane object; a synthesis instruction receiving section 105 that receives a synthesis instruction; an image information generation section that, in the case where the synthesis instruction receiving section 105 receives a synthesis instruction, generates image information, which is arranged on the surface of a plane object indicated by the shape information by synthesizing one piece of arranging information acquired by the arranging information acquisition section 103 and one or more pieces of arranging information corresponding to the synthesis instruction stored in the arranging information storage section 102; and an output section 107 that outputs image information generated by the image information generation section.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for arranging and outputting data on the surface of a planar object.

  As a conventional information processing apparatus or the like, a system that transmits product information using a WEB page has been known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-91653 A (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  In the conventional information processing apparatus, information related to the product information currently displayed on the WEB page (for example, more detailed information, related information, information on other products of the same genre, etc.) It may be provided as another WEB page linked to the current WEB page. In such a case, if you do not jump to the next WEB page by operating the link button on the WEB page, is there information related to the product currently displayed on the WEB page in the next WEB page, etc.? It was not possible to grasp whether or not the information was.

  For example, as the next information of the product information currently displayed on the WEB page, the user wants to know whether there is information including a photograph of the appearance of the product currently displayed on the WEB page. Even if you want to know what kind of information is for a moment, conventionally, it is necessary to jump to the next WEB page once, and the operation is cumbersome and redundant operations that waste time are performed. There was a problem of giving a strong impression to the user. In addition, since it jumps to a WEB page different from the currently displayed WEB page, the relevance between the content displayed on the WEB page immediately before and the content of the WEB page displayed next is grasped. There was a problem that it was difficult to do.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a shape information storage unit that can store shape information that is information for designating the shape of a planar object that is a planar object, and placement information that is information that can be placed on the surface of the planar object. A plurality of placement information storage units, a placement information acquisition unit that obtains one placement information placed on the surface of the planar object, a placement information, and a placement information storage unit A combination instruction receiving unit that receives a combination instruction that is an instruction to combine and output one or more pieces of arrangement information that is different from one of the plurality of pieces of arrangement information. 1 or more corresponding to the one arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit and the compositing instruction stored in the arrangement information storage unit on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information. An image information generating unit that generates image information arranged and placement information synthesis to an information processing apparatus having an output unit for outputting the image information by the image information generation unit is generated.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to see what kind of arrangement information exists without switching information to be output from one arrangement information to different arrangement information, and information can be provided appropriately.

  In the information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the image information generation unit is arranged on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information when the composition instruction accepting unit has not accepted the composition instruction. Is an information processing apparatus that generates image information in which one piece of arrangement information acquired is arranged.

  With this configuration, when there is no combination instruction, only one piece of placement information can be output and only the placement information that the user wants to see can be selectively displayed.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the composition instruction receiving unit includes position specifying information receiving means for receiving position specifying information which is information for specifying a position in the image indicated by the image information, and position specifying The information processing apparatus includes a combination instruction acquisition unit that acquires a combination instruction for a planar object according to a positional relationship between a position designated by the information and the position of the planar object in the image information.

  With this configuration, it is possible to output image information obtained by combining the placement information in accordance with an operation on the planar object.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes a placement change instruction receiving unit that receives a placement change instruction that is an instruction to change the placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit. Is stored in association with the output order, and the placement information acquisition unit acquires the placement information in the output order specified in advance for the latest placement information in response to the placement change instruction. The image information generation unit is an information processing device that generates image information using the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit.

  With this configuration, it is possible to know what kind of information is in the predetermined output order with respect to the currently output arrangement information without changing the arrangement information to be output.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the arrangement information acquisition unit acquires the arrangement information in the output order before or after the latest arrangement information according to the arrangement change instruction. It is a processing device.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to know what information is in the output order before or after the currently output arrangement information without changing the arrangement information to be output.

  According to the information processing apparatus and the like according to the present invention, information can be provided appropriately.

Block diagram of information processing apparatus 1 in an embodiment of the present invention Flow chart showing the same operation Figure showing the same shape information management table The figure which shows the same right direction output order management table (FIG. 4A) and left direction output order management table (FIG. 4B) The figure which shows the same downward direction output order management table (FIG. 5A) and the upward direction output order management table (FIG. 5B). The figure which shows the information for arrangement Figure showing the correspondence management table Figure showing the same information management table for placement Figure showing the display example Figure showing the updated information management table for acquisition placement Figure showing the display example The figure which shows the area | region for receiving the same synthetic | combination instruction | indication Figure showing the display example The figure which shows the management table for demonstrating the modification The figure which shows the management table for demonstrating the modification The figure which shows the solid object for demonstrating the modification The figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the computer system in embodiment of this invention The figure which shows an example of a structure of the computer system

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing apparatus and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, since the component which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in embodiment performs the same operation | movement, description may be abbreviate | omitted again.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment.
The information processing apparatus 1 includes a shape information storage unit 101, an arrangement information storage unit 102, an arrangement information acquisition unit 103, an arrangement change instruction reception unit 104, a composition instruction reception unit 105, an image information generation unit 106, and an output unit 107. Prepare.

  The combination instruction receiving unit 105 includes a position designation information receiving unit 10501 and a combination instruction acquiring unit 10502.

  The shape information storage unit 101 can store one or more pieces of shape information that is information for designating the shape of a planar object that is a planar object. Specifically, the planar object is an object arranged in a virtual two-dimensional space. The shape information is, for example, information that specifies the shape of the outer periphery of the planar object, or information that specifies the coordinates of pixels in the area of the planar object. The shape information is information specifying a shape such as a rectangle, a hexagon, or a circle. The shape information is information composed of bitmap information and vector information, for example. The shape information is, for example, information on a two-dimensional graphic object. The shape information is, for example, information on the coordinates of the vertices of the planar object, information on parameters of equations expressing boundaries, surfaces, and the like. The shape information corresponds to information indicating the position where the planar object indicated by the shape information is arranged (for example, coordinate information), information specifying the outline of the planar object, the background color of the planar object, etc. It may be added and stored in the shape information storage unit 101. A planar object has a surface. The surface of the planar object is, for example, a surface on which arrangement information to be described later is arranged. The surface is, for example, a surface facing the user side when displaying a planar object. The shape information storage unit 101 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The arrangement information storage unit 102 stores a plurality of pieces of arrangement information that is information that can be arranged on the surface of the planar object. The arrangement information may be any information such as image information such as still images and moving images, text information, and the like as long as the information can be arranged on the surface of the planar object and output (for example, displayed). The arrangement described here may be considered as mapping of image information, text information, and the like on the surface of the shape information indicating the planar object described above. Further, the arrangement information may be considered as information to be mapped, for example, texture information. The data structure of each arrangement information is not limited. Each placement information is preferably structured data such as XML data. In addition, each piece of placement information may be associated with information indicating each attribute. Further, the placement information may be tagged information, and this tag may be considered as one piece of information indicating the attribute of each placement information. The placement information may be information managed in association with information indicating the attribute of the placement information by a table, a database, or the like, for example. Further, the placement information may be grouped information.

  In addition, the placement information storage unit 102 may store the placement information in association with the output order. That is, the order in which two or more pieces of placement information stored in the placement information storage unit 102 are output may be determined. The fact that the information is stored in association with the output order may mean that the pieces of arrangement information are stored along with the output order, and the pieces of arrangement information are information indicating the output order. They may be stored in association with each other. Further, the fact that the information is stored in association with the output order means that the placement information stored in the placement information storage unit 102 corresponds to each placement information and the placement information displayed before or after the placement information. It may be associated with the management information of the output order to be attached and managed. Also, instead of such output order management information, acquisition condition information which is information indicating conditions for acquiring the placement information as described later, and the previous or next of the placement information indicated by the acquisition condition information. The output order management information in association with the acquisition condition information for acquiring the placement information that is the output order may be used.

  Also, each piece of arrangement information may be stored in association with a plurality of different output orders corresponding to a plurality of different arrangement change instructions to be described later. Thereby, it is possible to output the plane object arranged on the surface by obtaining the placement information in the output order according to the different placement change instructions. In addition, by adjusting the output order of the arrangement information, the arrangement information that displays the arrangement information arranged on each surface of the three-dimensional object such as a hexahedron by rotating the three-dimensional object in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. It is also possible to realize a pseudo display on a planar object. Note that when the placement information is structured data, for example, the arrangement order of the placement information in the same hierarchy may be considered as the output order.

  The placement information storage unit 102 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The arrangement information acquisition unit 103 acquires one piece of arrangement information arranged on the surface of the planar object. For example, the placement information acquisition unit 103 acquires placement information from the placement information associated with each planar object. The arrangement information acquisition unit 103 may acquire one arrangement information at any timing or trigger. For example, one piece of arrangement information may be acquired when the information processing apparatus 1 is activated. Further, when an instruction to display a planar object is received from a user or the like via a reception unit (not shown) or the like, one piece of arrangement information may be acquired. The one piece of arrangement information that the information processing apparatus 1 first acquires may be determined in any way. For example, arrangement information designated in advance may be acquired. Further, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 may acquire the arrangement information designated by the user or the like via a reception unit (not shown) or the like. Further, the placement information may be acquired at random. Further, the arrangement information that was output at the end of the previous time may be acquired. Note that one piece of placement information described here may be one piece of placement information, or one set or one group of placement information arranged on one surface. Further, it may be a group of arrangement information that satisfies one condition.

  Further, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 may acquire arrangement information that meets the conditions indicated by the acquisition condition information, which is information indicating conditions for acquiring the arrangement information prepared in advance. The acquisition condition information may be any information as long as one or more pieces of arrangement information can be designated as a result. For example, the acquisition condition information may be information that specifies an attribute of the placement information. The attributes described here are the data type (image, text information) of the placement information, the type of tag attached to the placement information, the tag name, and the like. Further, when the placement information is divided into items, the items may be considered as attributes. In addition, when index information is added to the placement information, the acquisition condition information may be information specifying this index. Further, it may be information designating the location, file name, directory, etc. of the placement information. Further, it may be a search expression or an arithmetic expression for searching the arrangement information. The search formula does not necessarily have to be shown in the form of a formula, and may be a keyword that can be used for the search. For example, the acquisition condition information indicated by this search expression is a combination of “select”, “from”, “where”, and the like. Note that “select” is an item of information for arrangement to be acquired, “from” is information for specifying a plurality of pieces of information for arrangement to be searched, and “where” is information indicating conditions for search (SQL specification) See). The acquisition condition information indicated by the arithmetic expression is, for example, an arithmetic expression performed on one or more pieces of arrangement information, for example, information specifying two pieces of arrangement information represented by numerical values, and these Are expressed by an arithmetic expression for calculating the average of the above, an arithmetic expression for adding / subtracting a predetermined time to / from a current time, and the like. The above acquisition condition information may be individually specified for all planar objects that can be output, or may be specified commonly for all planar objects or some planar objects.

  In addition, when the arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 (to be described later) receives an arrangement change instruction, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 receives the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 according to the arrangement change instruction. On the other hand, arrangement information for an output order designated in advance may be acquired. The arrangement change instruction is an instruction to change the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. The latest placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103 is, for example, placement information placed on the planar object currently being output. For example, the placement information acquisition unit 103 stores the placement information in the output order before or after (next) the latest placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103 in accordance with a placement change instruction. Obtained from the unit 102. For example, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 may acquire the arrangement information according to the output order using management information prepared in advance for managing the output order of the arrangement information based on the arrangement condition information. . This management information is, for example, management information in which the arrangement condition information is associated with the output order. In this case, for example, the arrangement information satisfying the condition indicated by the arrangement condition information corresponding to one output order is This is arrangement condition information for one output order.

  In addition, the arrangement change instruction includes an instruction to update the output of the planar object currently output from the plane object in which the placement information acquired according to the arrangement change instruction is arranged on the surface, and the arrangement acquired according to the arrangement change instruction. It may be considered that the use information includes an instruction to update the placement information placed on the surface of the currently output planar object.

  Further, for example, when a different arrangement change instruction is received, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 may acquire the arrangement information according to the output order corresponding to the change instruction. Here, acquiring the placement information according to the ascending order of one output order and acquiring the placement information according to the descending order may be considered as acquiring the placement information in different output orders. Alternatively, different arrangement change instructions may be considered as instructions including information specifying different output orders. The placement information acquisition unit 103 uses the management information prepared in advance for each of different placement change instructions for managing the output order of the placement information according to the placement condition information, and the placement information according to the output order. You may make it acquire. The management information prepared for each different arrangement change instruction here is, for example, management information in which arrangement condition information is associated with an output order. In each management information, for example, an arrangement corresponding to one output order is provided. The placement information satisfying the condition information is the placement condition information for the one output order.

  The arrangement information acquisition unit 103 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the placement information acquisition unit 103 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 receives an arrangement change instruction that is an instruction to change the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. The arrangement change instruction is, for example, an instruction for causing the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 to acquire arrangement information different from the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. It does not matter how the arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 receives the arrangement change instruction. The arrangement change instruction is received by, for example, an operation designated in advance with respect to an area (or an area including the vicinity thereof) on the planar object output (for example, displayed) by the output unit 107 described later. The operation designated in advance is, for example, an operation of placing a pointer in a part of the area on the planar object, an operation of clicking the area such as a pointer, or an area on the planar object. This is an operation to move the pointer when clicked in the direction. When the input device is a touch panel or the like, the operation of placing the pointer may be touch, the click may be tapped, and the operation of moving the pointer in a predetermined direction in a clicked state may be swipe (operation to slide a finger). Note that the operation designated in advance is different from the operation for giving a synthesis instruction to be described later.

  Further, the arrangement change instruction accepting unit 104 may accept two or more different arrangement change instructions, for example. Two or more different arrangement change instructions are, for example, instructions to acquire arrangement information according to different output orders. It does not matter how the arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 receives different arrangement change instructions. For example, the arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 receives different arrangement change instructions according to different operations by the user. For example, a different arrangement change instruction may be received depending on a (touch) area where a pointer is placed on a planar object or a click (tap) area. Further, a different arrangement change instruction may be received depending on the movement direction (swipe direction) of the clicked pointer in the area on the planar object. For example, different arrangement change instructions may be accepted for the case of moving in the left direction, the case of moving in the right direction, the case of moving in the upward direction, and the case of moving in the downward direction. When an operation for moving the pointer in different directions on the same straight line is performed, the placement change instruction accepting unit 104 issues a placement change instruction for acquiring placement information in ascending order of the same output order in one operation. In the other operation, the arrangement change instruction for acquiring the arrangement information in the descending order of the same output order may be accepted. The arrangement change instruction received by the arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 is, for example, an arrangement change instruction for the arrangement information associated with the planar object on which the operation is performed.

  The arrangement change instruction accepting unit 104 can acquire an arrangement change instruction from the position of the coordinates of the pointer of the input device, the change thereof, and the like.

  The reception described here is a concept including reception of information input from an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel, reception of information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line, and the like. The input means may be anything such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse, touch panel or menu screen. The arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 can be realized by a device driver of an input unit such as a keyboard or a touch panel, a menu screen control software, or the like.

  The composition instruction receiving unit 105 receives a composition instruction. The compositing instruction is the one acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103 among the one piece of placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103 and the plurality of pieces of placement information stored in the placement information storage unit 102. This is an instruction to synthesize and output one or more pieces of arrangement information different from the arrangement information. The combination instruction is, for example, an instruction to output a plurality of pieces of arrangement information so that at least a part of each piece of arrangement information can be seen. The combination instruction may be, for example, an instruction to transmit (transparent) a plurality of pieces of arrangement information, that is, a transmission instruction or a transparency instruction. One arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 described here is, for example, the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. For example, the one piece of placement information may be the placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103 first, or may be the latest placement information acquired in response to the placement change instruction. The composition instruction receiving unit 105 normally receives a composition instruction for one planar object, but may also accept a composition instruction for a plurality of planar objects at the same time. The combination instruction receiving unit 105 may receive the combination instruction in any way. For example, a compositing instruction may be received according to an operation such as a menu. In addition, even when a predesignated operation is performed on an area on one planar object output (for example, displayed) by the output unit 107 or the like, which will be described later, a composition instruction for this planar object may be accepted. good. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the combination instruction receiving unit 105 includes a position designation information receiving unit 10501 and a combination instruction acquiring unit 10502, which receive a combination instruction.

  The composition instruction accepting unit 105 can be realized by a device driver for input means such as a keyboard and a touch panel, control software for a menu screen, and the like. Further, the composition instruction receiving unit 105 may include an MPU, a memory, and the like.

  The position designation information receiving unit 10501 receives position designation information. The position designation information is information that designates a position in an image indicated by image information generated by an image information generation unit 106 described later. The position designation information may be considered as information for designating a position in image information output by the output unit 107 described later. The position designation information is, for example, coordinate information in the image information or the output screen. The position designation information accepting unit 10501 accepts, for example, a position where a pointer such as a mouse is placed, a position clicked with the pointer, a position touched with a touch panel or the coordinates of a tapped position as position designation information. . Information such as what operation has been performed or an event has occurred may also be accepted as position designation information. Further, the position designation information receiving unit 10501 determines whether or not the position designation has been performed for a predetermined time or longer, and acquires the position designation information only when the position designation is performed for the predetermined time or longer. Anyway. Thereby, for example, the position designation information can be acquired only when the user continues to touch one position on the touch panel or when the pointer is continuously placed at one position.

  The position designation information input means may be anything such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse, touch panel, or menu screen. The arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 can be realized by a device driver of an input unit such as a keyboard or a touch panel, a menu screen control software, or the like. The position designation information receiving unit 10501 may be used by the above-described arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 to receive an arrangement change instruction.

  The compositing instruction acquisition unit 10502 acquires a compositing instruction for a planar object according to the positional relationship between the position specified by the position designation information and the position of the planar object in the image information generated by the image information generation unit 106 described later. For example, the composition instruction acquisition unit 10502 determines whether or not the position specified by the position designation information is an area on the planar object, and acquires the composition instruction when the position is on the area. If it is not on the area, the composition instruction is not acquired. Further, for example, it is determined whether or not the position designated by the position designation information is a part of the area designated in advance on the planar object. If it is not on the area, the composition instruction is not acquired. Information indicating the outline of the region on the planar object can be acquired from the planar information of the planar object, information on the position of the planar object, and the like.

  Further, the synthesis instruction acquisition unit 10502 may acquire different synthesis instructions depending on the position specified by the position specification information, for example. For example, one or more (preferably plural) areas specified in advance are set on the planar object, and the position specified by the position specifying information is a position within any one of the one or more areas. If the position is within any one of the areas, a synthesis instruction corresponding to that area may be acquired. Information for setting one or more areas on the planar object (for example, information for setting an outline) is stored in a storage unit such as a shape information storage unit in advance in association with the shape information of the planar object, for example. You can do it.

  The synthesis instruction acquisition unit 10502 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the synthesis instruction acquisition unit 10502 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The image information generation unit 106 generates image information in which the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 is arranged on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information when the synthesis instruction reception unit 105 has not received the synthesis instruction. To do. For example, the image information generation unit 106 acquires shape information from the shape information storage unit 101, and an image of a planar object in which the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 is arranged in a predetermined area of the shape information. Generate information.

  Further, when the composition instruction accepting unit 105 accepts the composition instruction, the image information generation unit 106 has the one arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information obtaining unit 103 and the arrangement information on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information. Image information arranged by combining one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the combination instruction stored in the information storage unit 102 is generated. For example, when the synthesis instruction receiving unit 105 receives a synthesis instruction, the image information generation unit 106 generates one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the synthesis instruction in order to generate the synthesized image information. Further, the image information is generated using the shape information of the planar object corresponding to the compositing instruction and the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103.

  The composition described here is, for example, to superimpose a plurality of pieces of arrangement information so that at least a part of each can be seen. For example, a plurality of pieces of arrangement information may be transmitted (transparent) to generate an overlapped image. For example, it is possible to generate an image in which a plurality of pieces of arrangement information arranged on the front side are transmitted (transparent) and superimposed. As long as the transmittance at this time is other than 0%, the value is not limited. The transmission or transparency here may be considered to superimpose the arrangement information as translucent. Further, if the placement information placed on the front side is text information, only portions other than characters may be transmitted and overlapped. In addition, the composition mode of a plurality of pieces of arrangement information arranged at the front surface may be changed to a multiplication mode, a screen mode, a dither composition mode, or the like and overlapped. The composition mode is also called a drawing mode. It should be noted that the order in which the placement information is overlapped when the placement information is combined does not matter. For example, it may be specified by default or the like. Further, the transparency and the synthesis mode at the time of synthesis may be appropriately designated or changed by the user. Also, when combining a plurality of pieces of placement information with the latest placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103, the output order is far, with the transparency of each piece of placement information to be combined as a different transparency. You may make it produce | generate the image in which the density | concentration of display became lighter as the thing.

  When the compositing instruction receiving unit 105 accepts the compositing instruction, the image information generating unit 106 receives one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the compositing instruction from the arrangement information storing unit 102 in order to generate composite image information. Get more. The one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the combination instruction are, for example, one or more pieces of arrangement information determined corresponding to the combination instruction. The one or more pieces of placement information corresponding to the combination instruction are, for example, placement information in the output order next to or before the placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103. Alternatively, it may be a plurality of pieces of arrangement information in which the output order is continuous next to or before the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. Further, it may be one or more pieces of placement information having pre-specified attributes before or after or before the placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103. The attribute described here may be the data type (text, image, etc.) of the placement information or the type of tag attached to the placement information. Further, the one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the combination instruction may be one or more pieces of arrangement information that meet the conditions indicated by the above-described arrangement condition information specified in advance with respect to the combination instruction. Further, the one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the compositing instruction may be one or more pieces of arrangement information designated in advance. Moreover, the arrangement information previously matched with the newest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 may be used. For example, with respect to the placement information stored in the placement information storage unit 102, each placement information and one or more pieces of placement information that are combined when each placement information is acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103. Management information for managing these items in association with each other is prepared in a storage medium (not shown). Then, when a combination instruction is received when one piece of arrangement information is acquired and output by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103, the latest information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 is received using this management information. The information for arrangement combined with the information for arrangement is acquired and combined. This management information may also be used as the management information for managing the output order described above. One piece of placement information and composition placement information managed by this management information is, for example, the placement information assigned to each face of the virtual cube and the back face of each face. The information for arrangement may be used.

  In addition, the one or more pieces of placement information corresponding to the combination instruction include, for example, the placement information for composition associated with the acquisition condition information used when the placement information acquisition unit 103 acquires the latest placement information. It may be information for placement that meets the conditions indicated by the acquisition condition information for acquiring information. For example, management information in which each acquisition condition information is associated with acquisition condition information for acquiring arrangement information for combining is prepared in a storage medium (not shown). Then, the acquisition condition information for synthesis corresponding to the acquisition condition information used when the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 acquires the latest arrangement information is acquired from the management information, and the acquired acquisition condition for synthesis is acquired. Arrangement information that meets the conditions indicated by the information is acquired from the arrangement information storage unit 102. This management information may also be used as the management information for managing the output order described above. The one acquisition condition information managed by this management information and the acquisition condition information for synthesis are, for example, each acquisition condition information assigned to each face for acquiring the placement information for each face of the cube, and these It may be acquisition condition information for acquiring arrangement information that is arranged on the rear surface of each surface.

  The one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the combination instruction are, for example, one or more corresponding to each combination instruction received by the combination instruction receiving unit 105 when the combination instruction receiving unit 105 can receive a plurality of different combination instructions. The arrangement information may be used. For example, one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the combination instruction are the next or previous order in the output order corresponding to each combination instruction with respect to the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. The above arrangement information may be used. In addition, in the case where the management information as described above is prepared in advance according to each combination instruction, the placement information acquisition unit 103 acquired using the management information corresponding to each combination instruction has acquired. The placement information corresponding to the latest placement information may be used.

  The image information generation unit 106 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the image information generation unit 106 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

The output unit 107 outputs the image information generated by the image information generation unit 106. The output here is a concept including display on a display, projection using a projector, transmission to an external device, and the like. The output unit 107 may or may not include an output device such as a display. The output unit 107 can be realized by output device driver software, or output device driver software and an output device.
Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  (Step S <b> 201) The arrangement information acquisition unit 103 reads one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to one or more pieces of shape information from the arrangement information storage unit 102. The one or more pieces of shape information may be shape information designated in advance, or may be shape information designated by the user. There is no limitation on the timing or trigger at which the placement information acquisition unit 103 reads the placement information. For example, the arrangement information may be read when the information processing apparatus 1 is activated.

  (Step S <b> 202) The image information generation unit 106 reads shape information corresponding to the arrangement information read in step S <b> 201 from the shape information storage unit 101. Then, using the read shape information and the placement information associated with the shape information, image information of one or more planar objects in which the placement information is placed on the surface is generated. Although explanation is omitted here, information on a position where the planar object is arranged may be acquired, and image information in which the planar object is arranged at this position may be generated.

  (Step S203) The output unit 107 outputs the image information of one or more planar objects generated by the image information generation unit 106. For example, the image information is displayed on a monitor or the like.

  (Step S204) The position designation information receiving means 10501 determines whether or not position designation information has been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S205. If not accepted, the process proceeds to step S212.

  (Step S205) The compositing instruction acquisition unit 10502 corresponds to the compositing instruction for any one of the plane objects output in step S203, the position specifying information received by the position specifying information receiving unit 10501. Determine whether or not. Here, in particular, it is determined whether or not the position designation information received by the position designation information receiving means 10501 is position designation information corresponding to any one of one or more compositing instructions for one planar object. . For example, it is determined whether or not there is an area including the coordinates indicated by the position designation information among the areas respectively associated with one or more compositing instructions set on each planar object output by the output unit 107. To do. If there is, it is determined that the position designation information corresponds to one of the compositing instructions. If not, it is determined that the position designation information does not correspond to one of the compositing instructions. If it is determined that the position designation information corresponds to one of the compositing instructions, the process proceeds to step S206. If it is determined that the position designation information does not correspond to one of the compositing instructions, the process proceeds to step S212.

  (Step S206) The combination instruction acquisition unit 10502 acquires a combination instruction corresponding to the position designation information. For example, a synthesis instruction prepared in advance corresponding to an area including coordinates indicated by position designation information among one or more areas set on one planar object output in step S203 is acquired.

  (Step S <b> 207) The image information generation unit 106 reads from the arrangement information storage unit 102 placement information used for composition corresponding to the composition instruction acquired in Step S <b> 206. For example, the arrangement information in the next output order among the arrangement information associated with the output order corresponding to the synthesis instruction is read.

  (Step S208) The image information generation unit 106 includes the shape information corresponding to the compositing instruction among the shape information read out in Step S202, and the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 corresponding to the shape information. Using the information and the arrangement information used for the composition read in step S207, an image obtained by synthesizing the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information obtaining unit 103 and the composition arrangement information is arranged on the surface. Generate image information of the planar object. Then, the image information of the same planar object before synthesis is updated with the image information of the newly generated planar object. Here, for example, the plane object before synthesis is replaced with a newly created plane object, and the plane object before synthesis is temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown) or the like.

  (Step S209) The output unit 107 outputs the image information updated in step S208.

  (Step S210) The output unit 107 determines whether or not the output of the combined image information is stopped. For example, when the position indicated by the position designation information indicates a position other than the area corresponding to the compositing instruction, or when an operation for canceling the composite output is performed, the output of the composited image information is stopped. Judge. In other cases, it is determined not to be canceled. If it is determined to be cancel, the process proceeds to step S210. If it is not determined to be cancel, the process returns to step S210.

  (Step S211) The output unit 107 outputs image information before synthesis. For example, the pre-combination image information temporarily stored in step S208 is read and output. In addition, arrangement information and shape information necessary for generating image information before synthesis may be read again, and the image information generation unit 106 may generate and output the image information. Then, the process returns to step S204.

  (Step S212) The arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 determines whether an arrangement change instruction for one planar object has been received. For example, it may be determined whether any one of a plurality of arrangement change instructions corresponding to one planar object has been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S213. If not accepted, the process returns to step S204.

  (Step S213) In response to the arrangement change instruction for the one planar object received in step S212, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 has the output order corresponding to this arrangement change instruction next to the latest arrangement information. Information is read from the arrangement information storage unit 102. The latest placement information is updated with the read placement information. For example, overwrite.

  (Step S214) The image information generation unit 106 generates image information using the latest arrangement information acquired in step S213. Then, the process returns to step S203.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process is terminated by powering off or a process termination interrupt.

Hereinafter, a specific operation of the information processing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment will be described.
Here, it is assumed that the information processing apparatus 1 is a portable information terminal that can be operated with a touch panel. However, it does not matter what kind of apparatus the information processing apparatus 1 is. Further, the arrangement information stored in the arrangement information storage unit 101 is information used for the product catalog, and the information output from the information processing apparatus 1 is an electronic product catalog that can be interactively operated as an example. I will give you a description.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a shape information management table for managing the shape information stored in the shape information storage unit 101. Here, a case where the shape information includes coordinate information that is information indicating the arrangement of the shape information will be described as an example. The shape information management table may have items of “shape ID”, “width”, “height”, “x coordinate”, and “y coordinate”. “Shape ID” is identification information of shape information. It may be considered as object identification information indicated by the shape information. “Width” and “Height” indicate the width and height of the shape information. In addition, although the case where the shape which shape information shows here is a rectangle is shown, shapes other than a rectangle may be sufficient. The shape information may include image information representing the shape of the planar object. “X coordinate” and “y coordinate” indicate coordinates at which the planar object indicated by the shape information is arranged. Here, it is assumed that the coordinates are the coordinates of the upper left corner. Here, w1, w2, w3, etc., h1, h2, h3, etc., x1, x2, x3, etc., y1, y2, y3, etc. are arbitrary values.

  4 shows a right direction output order management table (FIG. 4A) and a left direction output order management table (FIG. 4B) for managing information indicating the output order stored in advance in a storage medium (not shown). FIG. The right direction output order management table includes, for example, the acquisition condition information used when acquiring the latest arrangement information acquired by the current arrangement information acquisition unit 103, and one plane output by the output unit 107. The next placement information newly acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103 in response to the placement change instruction received by the placement change instruction receiving unit 104 when the processing on the object is traced to the right with a pointer or the like And acquisition condition information indicating the above conditions. Further, the left direction output order management table indicates, for example, the acquisition condition information used when acquiring the current latest arrangement information and the area on the one planar object output by the output unit 107 in the left direction. The acquisition condition information indicating the condition of the next arrangement information newly acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 in accordance with the arrangement change instruction received by the arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 when the processing is traced with a pointer or the like Are associated with each other. The values of “first arrangement condition information” and “second arrangement condition information” in the right direction output order management table and the left direction output order management table are used when the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 acquires the latest arrangement information. This is the arrangement condition information indicating the used arrangement condition information and the condition of the arrangement information to be acquired next.

  For example, when the arrangement change instruction accepting unit 104 accepts an arrangement change instruction according to an operation of tracing an area on one plane object in the right direction, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 displays the latest arrangement information displayed The value of “second arrangement condition information” of the record having the “first arrangement condition information” that matches the acquisition condition information used to acquire the information is obtained from the right output order management table and used for the next arrangement. Used as arrangement condition information for acquiring information.

  Similarly, when the arrangement change instruction accepting unit 104 accepts an arrangement change instruction according to the left tracing operation, the arrangement information obtaining unit 103 is used to obtain the latest arrangement information currently displayed. An arrangement for acquiring the second arrangement information by acquiring the value of the “second arrangement condition information” of the record having the “first arrangement condition information” that matches the acquired acquisition condition information from the left output order management table Used as condition information. Note that the placement information acquired using the placement condition information acquired from the left-direction output order management information is the placement information that is the previous order with respect to the latest placement information acquired by the placement information acquisition unit 103. You may think.

  FIG. 5 shows a downward output order management table (FIG. 5A) and an upward output order management table (FIG. 5B) for managing information indicating the output order stored in advance in a storage medium (not shown). FIG. The lower output order management table and the upper output order management table are different in that the corresponding arrangement change instruction is an arrangement change instruction received in accordance with an operation of tracing an area on one plane object in the downward direction and the upward direction. Except for this, since it is the same as the left direction output order management table described above, a detailed description is omitted here.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the placement information stored in the placement information storage unit 102. Here, it is assumed that the arrangement information is structured data in the XML format. However, the arrangement information does not have to be data in XML format, and may be data in a format in which the data can be referred to by item or attribute. Here, the placement information is tagged with one of the tags “product name”, “color”, “manufacturer”, “price”, “release date”, “specification”, or “comment”. Data. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the arrangement information is created and accumulated in advance by a user or the like. Here, it is assumed that the placement information is grouped by product. That is, a pair of product tags, that is, tagged data in a range delimited by “<product>” and “</ product>” is information for arrangement of one product. If the information for specifying the address of an image file or the like, for example, link information is included as the placement information, the information on the file specified thereby is placed as placement information as the placement information acquisition unit 103 or the image information generation unit 106. As appropriate.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a correspondence management table for managing the correspondence between the group of arrangement information and the shape information. The correspondence management table has items of “shape ID” and “corresponding group”. The “shape ID” corresponds to the “shape ID” in the shape information management table. The “corresponding group” indicates an element of the product name tag of each group that is configured by the arrangement information. That is, the placement information belonging to the group including the product name tag is placement information that can be placed on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information indicated by the corresponding “shape ID”.

  First, for example, when the user activates the information processing apparatus 1, the placement information acquisition unit 103 sends placement information corresponding to each shape information stored in the shape information storage unit 101 from the placement information storage unit 102. get. Specifically, from the correspondence management table shown in FIG. 7, the element of the tag indicated by the “corresponding group” corresponding to each “shape ID” is used as placement information corresponding to the shape information indicated by each “shape ID”. Part of the placement information in the group of placement information to be included is acquired. Here, as the partial arrangement information, the arrangement information that satisfies the condition “product name, color”, which is the arrangement condition information specified in advance as an initial value, is acquired.

  For example, with reference to the correspondence management table shown in FIG. 7, the placement information acquisition unit 103 refers to the correspondence management table shown in FIG. Of the placement information including the product name tag “washing machine”, it is determined to acquire the placement information that satisfies the conditions indicated by the placement condition information “product name, color”. The arrangement information that satisfies the condition indicated by the arrangement condition information “product name, color” is the arrangement information shown in FIG. 6, the arrangement information that is the element of the product name tag, and the element of the color tag. This means information for arrangement. Then, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 obtains, from the arrangement information shown in FIG. 6, an element of the product name tag “washing machine” from the arrangement information group having the product name tag having the element “washing machine”. And “red.gif”, “white.gif”, and “white.gif”, which are elements of the color tag, are acquired as arrangement information. Note that the image information of the link destination is acquired as “red.gif”. The acquired arrangement information is temporarily stored in a storage medium or the like (not shown).

  Similarly, arrangement information is acquired for other shape information.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an acquired arrangement information management table for managing the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. Here, the ID of the shape information, the acquired placement information, and the placement condition information used when obtaining the placement information are managed in association with each other.

  The image information generation unit 106 acquires the shape information shown in FIG. 3 from the shape information storage unit 101, arranges the arrangement information acquired for each piece of shape information shown in FIG. Generate. Also, here, image information is generated in which the planar object indicated by each shape information is arranged at the position indicated by the coordinates included in each shape information.

  The output unit 107 displays the image information generated by the image information generation unit 106 on a monitor or the like (not shown).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of image information. The plane objects 91 to 92 are image information respectively corresponding to shape information whose “shape ID” is “OB001” to “OB003”.

  Next, it is assumed that the user performs an operation of tracing the surface of the planar object 91 from left to right on the touch panel of the information processing apparatus 1.

  The arrangement change instruction accepting unit 104 determines that an operation of tracing the area on the planar object 91 in the right direction has been performed based on the change in the x-axis direction of the coordinates touched by the finger input from the touch panel and the speed thereof. An arrangement change instruction corresponding to the right tracing operation is received.

  The placement information acquisition unit 103 receives the placement change instruction for the planar object 91 whose “shape ID” is “OB001” by the placement change instruction accepting unit 104, so that the planar object 91 whose “shape ID” is “OB001”. The information for placement corresponding to the placement change instruction is newly acquired. Here, since the arrangement change instruction corresponding to the right tracing operation has been received, the acquisition condition information indicating the conditions of the arrangement information to be newly acquired using the right direction output order management table shown in FIG. To get. Specifically, first, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 corresponds to the latest arrangement information acquired for the shape information whose “shape ID” is “OB001” from the acquired arrangement information management table illustrated in FIG. 8. "Product name, color" which is the arrangement condition information to be acquired is acquired. Then, in the right direction output order management table shown in FIG. 4A, a record in which the value of “first arrangement condition information” matches the acquired “product name, color” is searched, and “ The “price” that is “second arrangement change condition information” is acquired. Then, among the placement information shown in FIG. 6, a placement information group whose “shape ID” corresponds to “OB001”, that is, a placement information group including an element having a product name tag “washing machine”. Then, “150,000 yen”, which is information with a tag whose tag name is “price”, is acquired as the next placement information.

  Then, the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 is updated (for example, overwritten) using the acquired arrangement information, and the “shape ID” of the acquired arrangement information management table shown in FIG. The record “OB001” is also updated.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an updated acquisition arrangement information management table.

  The image information generation unit 106 generates image information including an image of the planar object 91 on which the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 is arranged. Then, the output unit 107 updates the image to be output using the image information generated by the image information generation unit 106.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of image information changed according to an arrangement change instruction.

  Here, instead of performing an operation of tracing one plane object to the left in the above, an operation of tracing from the top to the bottom is performed. In this case, the arrangement change instruction accepting unit 104 accepts an arrangement change instruction according to an operation traced downward. Then, the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 determines that the value of “first arrangement condition information” is the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 from the downward output order management table illustrated in FIG. The record that matches the “product name, color” that is the arrangement condition information corresponding to the information is searched, and “specification” that is the “second arrangement change condition information” of this record is acquired. Then, in the arrangement information shown in FIG. 6, the tag name “from the group of arrangement information including the element having the product name tag“ washing machine ”corresponding to the“ shape ID ”“ OB001 ”is“ “Dry function” and “ion function”, which are information with a tag “specification”, are acquired as the next arrangement information. Then, image information is generated and output using this arrangement information.

  FIG. 4B shows information for managing the output order used when acquiring the placement information even when the operation is traced from right to left or the operation from bottom to top. The same processing is performed except that the left output order management table and the upward output order management table shown in FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an area for receiving a compositing instruction set on the planar object 91 indicated by the shape information stored in the shape information storage unit 101. Here, it is assumed that four areas 1201 to 1204 divided by the diagonal line of the plane object 91 are set on the plane object 91, and each area is associated with a different combination instruction. Here, it is assumed that the areas 1201 to 1204 are invisible on the monitor. These areas 1201 to 1204 may be considered as opaque buttons or the like. However, the areas 1201 to 1204 may be displayed so as to overlap the planar object 91 on the monitor. Here, it is assumed that the area 1201 is associated with a synthesis instruction for synthesizing the placement information to be placed next on the surface of the planar object 91 when the above-described right tracing operation is performed. . In addition, regarding the areas 1202 to 1204, when a trace operation is performed in the downward direction, the left direction, and the upward direction, respectively, a synthesis instruction for synthesizing the placement information to be arranged next on the surface of the planar object is associated. It shall be. Note that the areas 1201 to 1204 are set by, for example, information defining the outline of the area, coordinates of the vertex of the area, or the like. Also, it is assumed that the correspondence relationship between each of the areas 1201 to 1204 and each combination instruction is managed using, for example, a management table (not shown). It is assumed that a similar region is set in advance for a planar object indicated by other shape information.

  Here, for example, in the image information displayed as shown in FIG. 11, the user places his finger on the area 1202 of the planar object 91 and does not move the finger for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second or more). Suppose. The position designation information receiving means 10501 acquires the coordinates of the position designated by the user with the finger, and determines whether or not the coordinates of the position have changed for a predesignated time. If no change is made, position designation information that is information for designating coordinates designated by the user is received.

  Then, the synthesis instruction acquisition unit 10502 sequentially determines whether or not the coordinates indicated by the position designation information are coordinates in any of the areas 1201 to 1204. Here, it is assumed that the coordinates are determined to be coordinates within the area 1202. In accordance with the determination result, the synthesis instruction acquisition unit 10502 acquires a synthesis instruction corresponding to this area 1202. That is, as described above, when the operation of tracing down the planar object is acquired, the arrangement information to be arranged on the next surface is acquired and combined with the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. To obtain a synthesis instruction to be output.

  Specifically, the composition instruction acquisition unit 10502 first corresponds to the latest arrangement information acquired for the shape information whose “shape ID” is “OB001” from the acquisition arrangement information management table shown in FIG. Acquires “price” as arrangement condition information. Then, in the downward output order management table shown in FIG. 5A, a record in which the value of “first arrangement condition information” matches the acquired “price” is searched, and “second arrangement change” of this record is searched. "Specification" that is "condition information" is acquired. Then, among the placement information shown in FIG. 6, a placement information group whose “shape ID” corresponds to “OB001”, that is, a placement information group including an element having a product name tag “washing machine”. Then, “dry function” and “ion function”, which are information to which a tag whose tag name is “specification” is attached, are acquired as the next arrangement information.

  Next, the image information generation unit 106 adds the next information on the text information “150,000 yen” that is the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 before acquiring the next arrangement information. A composite image is generated by superimposing the text information images “Dry Function” and “Ion Function” acquired as the arrangement information. Here, at the time of composition, if it is preliminarily designated that composition is performed by setting the transparency of the arrangement information to be synthesized to 50%, the image information generation unit 106 reads the text “150,000 yen”. On the information image, a composite image is generated by superimposing text information images of “dry function” and “ion function” with the transparency set to 50%. Then, image information including an image of the planar object 91 on which the composite image is arranged is generated.

  Then, the output unit 107 outputs the image information generated by the image information generation unit 106.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example when the placement information is combined. After that, for example, when the finger is separated from the plane object 91, the output unit 107 ends the combination information display and the image in which only the original arrangement information before the combination is arranged on the plane object. Display the information again.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the arrangement information (for example, the next arrangement information) other than the arrangement information currently arranged on the surface of the planar object is used as the image arranged on the current surface. For example, without changing the display to the next placement information, it is possible to instantaneously determine what the other placement information is, Can be provided appropriately.

  In the above specific example, when the image information generation unit 106 acquires the placement information used for composition in response to the composition instruction, the layout information in the next output order is obtained in response to the layout change instruction. The output order management table such as the downward output order management table used in the above is used, but in the present embodiment, it is used when acquiring the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. Management information associating the arrangement condition information, the area for determining acceptance of the compositing instruction, and the arrangement condition information indicating the condition of the arrangement information acquired when the position designation information included in this area is received. It is stored in a storage medium (not shown) and the like, the area for which the composition instruction is received using this management information, and the arrangement condition information used for acquiring the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 When The association disposition condition information, may be acquired as the layout condition information indicating a condition for obtaining arrangement information used in the synthesis. As a result, arrangement information other than the arrangement information in the next output order can be synthesized and output, and the degree of freedom in design is increased.

  Also, the arrangement condition information is managed in association with each surface of the virtual solid object, and each time the arrangement change instruction receiving unit 104 receives the arrangement change instruction, the arrangement condition information is virtually displayed in the direction corresponding to the arrangement change instruction. A surface facing a predetermined direction (for example, the front) when the three-dimensional object is rotated is determined, and the arrangement condition information associated with this surface is set as the condition for the arrangement information to be arranged next on the plane object. You may make it acquire as information to show. Further, when the composition instruction is received, the arrangement condition information associated with the surface facing in the direction opposite to the direction specified in advance is updated with the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103. You may make it acquire as information which shows the conditions of the information for arrangement | positioning used for a synthesis | combination. In this way, it is possible to realize an operational feeling as if operating a three-dimensional object with a planar image, and it is possible to obtain an effect that the back of the three-dimensional object can be seen through from the front surface by an operation that gives a compositing instruction it can. In this case, the shape information includes image information indicating a three-dimensional figure by an oblique projection method or the like, or can generate such an image, and can be operated like a three-dimensional object. This is preferable in that it can be shown to the user. The same applies to the following.

  In addition, for the sake of convenience, the surfaces of the virtual three-dimensional object that have different vertical and horizontal orientations are considered as different surfaces and are associated with different identification information. Then, assuming that a surface facing one direction (for example, the front surface) of the solid object is an output surface corresponding to the surface of the planar object, each surface associated with the different identification information described above is When the 3D object is rotated up, down, left, right, etc. from the state of the output surface, the identification information of the surface to be the output surface is associated with the identification information of the surface before rotation, and management information for each rotation direction Etc. Also, management information is prepared in advance in which identification information given to faces with different orientations is associated with placement condition information indicating the conditions of placement information placed on each face. Then, using these management information, when it is considered that the solid object is rotated in the direction according to the compositing instruction or the arrangement change instruction, the arrangement information that is the next output order of the latest arrangement information is acquired. Arrangement condition information for this purpose may be acquired.

  For example, when the surface A which is one surface constituting a rectangular parallelepiped is arranged so that one side thereof is on the upper side, arranged on the lower side, arranged on the right side, and on the left side For the sake of convenience, the arrangement is considered as different surfaces, and different identification information A01 to A04 are given to the respective surfaces. However, since the surfaces indicated by the identification information A01 to A04 are actually one surface A, the same arrangement condition information is managed in association with these surfaces. Similarly, regarding other surfaces, those having different orientations are considered as different surfaces, and different identification information is given to each. Next, using the identification information of these planes, the identification information of each of these planes, and the state indicated by these identification information from the state where each plane is an output plane, the solid object is moved in a predetermined rotation direction at a predetermined angle, For example, management information in which identification information of a surface that will be the next output surface when it is assumed that it has been rotated 90 degrees is prepared in advance for each predetermined rotation direction. Then, for example, in accordance with the compositing instruction or the arrangement change instruction, using these pieces of information, the surface identification information associated with the arrangement condition information corresponding to the latest arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit 103 Next, the arrangement condition information corresponding to the identification information of the surface that becomes the next output order (or the previous output order) associated with the information is acquired, and the arrangement information that satisfies the conditions indicated by the arrangement condition information is obtained as the next or previous information. You may make it acquire as conditions for arrangement | positioning. The management information when the predetermined angle is 180 degrees may be prepared as management information to be used when receiving a compositing instruction. In this case, although it is a planar object, It is possible to obtain an effect of temporarily combining and displaying the arrangement information on the back surface side of the rectangular solid object.

  For example, in a three-dimensional object such as a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped, even if the three-dimensional object is rotated up and down or left and right so that the same surface faces the front, May be different. In such a case, even if the three-dimensional object is further rotated in the right direction, the same surface is not always displayed. Therefore, with the information indicating the output order as shown in FIG. 4A and the like, it is difficult to realize an operation for rotating a solid object and displaying its surface on the planar object. However, by treating each surface of the 3D object that is different from top to bottom and left and right as different surfaces and associating this surface with the arrangement condition information, the same display as when the 3D object is rotated is displayed. Can be realized.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 14, when the cube is turned 90 degrees rightward from the identification information indicating each face of the cube (cuboid) and each face being the current front face, the next front face is obtained. A management table of information indicating the output order for managing the identification information of the surface in association with each other is prepared. However, the identification information of each surface here is identification information in consideration of the direction in which each surface is arranged, and it is assumed that different identification information is given to the same surface with different orientations. In this management table, the identification information of each surface indicates the symbols A to F that specify the six surfaces of the cube, and the respective orientations when the upper, lower, left, and right sides of each surface are arranged above the cube. It is represented by a character string combining “01” to “04”. “Current” is the surface that is the current front. The “next” is a surface that becomes the next front face. This management table is a management table corresponding to the area 1201. Although not shown, similarly, the current front face of the cube and the face that becomes the next front face when the cube is rotated 90 degrees leftward, upward, and downward, respectively. Three management tables are prepared for managing information indicating the output order to be managed in association with the identification information including.

  Further, a management table as shown in FIG. 15 is prepared in which the surface identification information shown in FIG. 14 is associated with the arrangement condition information.

  Then, the four management tables described above including the management table shown in FIG. 14 are shown in FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, FIG. 5A, FIG. By using instead of the output order information, the next arrangement information to be output and the arrangement information to be combined are obtained, and the three-dimensional object as shown in FIG. The arrangement information arranged on the planar object can be changed as if the surface is displayed. The management information may be provided separately when it receives an arrangement change instruction and when it receives a composition instruction.

  In the above embodiment, the arrangement condition information is used. However, it goes without saying that the arrangement information may be directly used instead of the arrangement condition information.

  Further, although cases have been described with the above embodiments where the information processing apparatus is a stand-alone, the information processing apparatus may be a stand-alone apparatus or a server apparatus in a server / client system. In the latter case, the output unit or the reception unit receives an input or outputs a screen via a communication line.

  In each of the above embodiments, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

  The software that realizes the information processing apparatus in each of the above embodiments is a program as described below. That is, this program includes a shape information storage unit that can store shape information that is information for designating the shape of a planar object that is a planar object, and a plurality of pieces of placement information that is information that can be placed on the surface of the planar object. An arrangement information acquisition unit that is a program that is executed using a computer accessible to the arrangement information storage unit and that acquires one piece of arrangement information arranged on the surface of the planar object. And the one piece of arrangement information and one or more pieces of arrangement information different from the one piece of arrangement information among the plurality of pieces of arrangement information stored in the arrangement information storage unit A compositing instruction receiving unit that receives a compositing instruction that is an instruction to output, and a planar object indicated by the shape information when the compositing instruction receiving unit receives the compositing instruction; One arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit and one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the combination instruction stored in the arrangement information storage unit are arranged on the surface of It is a program for functioning as an image information generation unit that generates image information and an output unit that outputs image information generated by the image information generation unit.

  In the program, the functions realized by the program do not include functions that can be realized only by hardware. For example, a function that can be realized only by hardware such as a modem or an interface card in an acquisition unit that acquires information or an output unit that outputs information is not included in the function realized by the program.

  Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the external appearance of a computer that executes the program and realizes the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed on the computer hardware.

  In FIG. 17, a computer system 900 includes a computer 901 including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 905, an FD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disk) drive 906, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, a monitor 904, and the like. Is provided.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the computer system 900. In FIG. 18, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 905 and the FD drive 906, a computer 901 is connected to an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing a program such as a bootup program, and the MPU 911. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 913 that temporarily stores program instructions and provides a temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 that stores application programs, system programs, and data, and an MPU 911 and a ROM 912 are interconnected. And a bus 915. The computer 901 may include a network card (not shown) that provides connection to the LAN.

  A program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus and the like according to the above embodiment is stored in the CD-ROM 921 or the FD 922, inserted into the CD-ROM drive 905 or the FD drive 906, and stored in the hard disk 914. May be forwarded. Instead, the program may be transmitted to the computer 901 via a network (not shown) and stored in the hard disk 914. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 921, the FD 922, or the network.

  The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 901 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus according to the above-described embodiment. The program may include only a part of an instruction that calls an appropriate function (module) in a controlled manner and obtains a desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well known and will not be described in detail.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is suitable as an apparatus that arranges and outputs data on the surface of a planar object. It is useful as an output device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 91, 92, 93 Plane object 101 Shape information storage part 102 Arrangement information storage part 103 Arrangement information acquisition part 104 Arrangement change instruction reception part 105 Composition instruction reception part 106 Image information generation part 107 Output part 10501 Position designation Information accepting means 10502 Compositing instruction obtaining means

Claims (7)

A shape information storage unit capable of storing shape information, which is information specifying the shape of a planar object that is a planar object;
An arrangement information storage unit that stores a plurality of pieces of arrangement information that is information that can be arranged on the surface of the planar object;
An arrangement information obtaining unit for obtaining one arrangement information arranged on the surface of the planar object;
An instruction to synthesize and output the one arrangement information and one or more pieces of arrangement information different from the one arrangement information among the plurality of arrangement information stored in the arrangement information storage unit A synthesis instruction receiving unit that receives a synthesis instruction that is,
When the composition instruction accepting unit accepts a composition instruction, the one arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit and the arrangement information storage unit are stored on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information. An image information generating unit that generates image information arranged by combining one or more pieces of information for arrangement corresponding to the combination instruction;
An information processing apparatus comprising: an output unit that outputs image information generated by the image information generation unit. The image information generation unit is an image in which one piece of arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit is arranged on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information when the combination instruction reception unit does not receive a combination instruction. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, which generates information. The synthesis instruction receiving unit
Position designation information receiving means for receiving position designation information which is information for designating a position in an image indicated by the image information;
The composition instruction obtaining means for obtaining a composition instruction for the planar object according to a positional relationship between the position designated by the position designation information and the position of the planar object in the image information. 2. The information processing apparatus according to 2. An arrangement change instruction receiving unit that receives an arrangement change instruction that is an instruction to change the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit;
The arrangement information is stored in association with the output order,
The placement information acquisition unit obtains placement information in a predetermined output order for the latest placement information in response to the placement change instruction,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image information generation unit generates image information using the arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the arrangement information acquisition unit acquires arrangement information in an output order before or after the latest arrangement information in accordance with the arrangement change instruction. A shape information storage unit that can store shape information that is information specifying the shape of a planar object that is a planar object, and placement information that stores a plurality of pieces of placement information that can be placed on the surface of the planar object An information processing method performed using a storage unit, an arrangement information acquisition unit, a composition instruction reception unit, an image information generation unit, and an output unit,
The placement information acquisition step in which the placement information acquisition unit acquires one placement information to be placed on the surface of the planar object;
The combination instruction receiving unit includes the one arrangement information and one or more pieces of arrangement information different from the one arrangement information among the plurality of arrangement information stored in the arrangement information storage unit; A synthesis instruction acceptance step for accepting a synthesis instruction that is an instruction to synthesize and output
When the image information generation unit receives a compositing instruction in the compositing instruction accepting step, the one arrangement information acquired in the arranging information acquisition step on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information, and the arrangement An image information generating step for generating image information arranged by combining one or more pieces of arrangement information corresponding to the combination instruction stored in the information storage unit;
An information processing method comprising: an output step in which the output unit outputs the image information generated in the image information generation step. A shape information storage unit that can store shape information that is information specifying the shape of a planar object that is a planar object, and placement information that stores a plurality of pieces of placement information that can be placed on the surface of the planar object A storage unit and a program executed using a computer accessible to the storage unit,
Computer
An arrangement information obtaining unit for obtaining one arrangement information arranged on the surface of the planar object;
An instruction to synthesize and output the one arrangement information and one or more pieces of arrangement information different from the one arrangement information among the plurality of arrangement information stored in the arrangement information storage unit A synthesis instruction receiving unit that receives a synthesis instruction that is,
When the composition instruction accepting unit accepts a composition instruction, the one arrangement information acquired by the arrangement information acquisition unit and the arrangement information storage unit are stored on the surface of the planar object indicated by the shape information. An image information generating unit that generates image information arranged by combining one or more pieces of information for arrangement corresponding to the combination instruction;
The program for functioning as an output part which outputs the image information which the said image information generation part produced | generated.

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