JP2013033395A - Character input device, method of displaying flick input selection on character input device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a character input device that can facilitate selection of an input character candidate at the time of flick input.SOLUTION: With a character input device and a character input method, input candidates at the time of flick input are displayed upward from the position of a depressed key in a row in the Japanese alphabetical order at the time of Hiragana input and in the English alphabetical order at the time of alphabet input.

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device and a character input method in portable electronic devices such as portable information devices and smartphones, and more particularly to a character input device and a character input method including a touch screen keyboard.

  Conventionally, mobile devices such as mobile phones, electronic dictionaries, mobile PCs (Personal Computers), and tablet terminals have always been required to reduce the size of the housing. It is difficult to widen.

  For this reason, a method has been adopted in which a plurality of characters are assigned to one key of a numeric keypad for number input and the input characters are switched according to the number of times the key is pressed. For example, a Japanese “ka” line character is assigned to the number 2, and when the key is pressed once, the character “ka” is input, and when the key is pressed twice, “ki” is input. In this way, the method of switching the input character according to the number of times the key is pressed may increase the number of times the key is pressed, and may impose a burden on the finger. For this reason, recently, as disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, a flick input method has been adopted in which a numeric keypad of a software keyboard is displayed on a touch panel such as a liquid crystal and a character is input by sliding while pressing the key with a finger or the like. Has been. An example of flick input disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11A is an external view of a smartphone having the touch panel unit 110, and a software keyboard for inputting characters is activated. When “A” is touched with a finger or a touch pen in this state, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O” are displayed in a cross around “A” as shown in FIG. 11B. The For example, when the user moves his / her finger from “A” to the left and releases the finger at the “I” position, “I” is input. When the finger is moved upward from “A” and released at the “U” position, “U” is input. FIG. 11C shows a state when “A” is touched with a finger.

"Breaking Mobile CATCH UP" by Takeyuki Horibayashi! "IPhone 3G where you can experience a new era of mobile phones" ", [online], July 10, 2008, [March 18, 2011 search], Internet <URL: http: //k-tai.impress. co.jp/cda/article/mobile_catchup/40804.html>

  Since the flick input is displayed around the key touched by the input candidate, there is a candidate hidden by a finger. For example, as shown in FIG. 11C, pressing “A” with a finger hides “E” and “O”. To select a character that is not hidden in the finger, there is a problem that hard to use it is necessary to remember whether there is any selected candidate to advance any position.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to facilitate selection of input character candidates at the time of flick input.

  The character input device of the present invention is a character input device having a touch panel on a display unit, a display control unit for displaying a numeric keypad on the display unit, and an operation detection unit for detecting a touched key of the numeric keypad keyboard. And a storage unit for storing the flick input selection candidates of the numeric keypad keyboard, the display control unit reads out a plurality of flick input selection candidates related to the touched key from the storage unit, and according to a predetermined priority order Selection candidates are displayed side by side so as to be sequentially separated from the touched key. In the character input device of the present invention, the predetermined priority order is alphabetical order or alphabetical order. The character input device of the present invention is characterized in that the selection candidates are displayed side by side in the direction of the center of the display unit. The display control unit of the character input device according to the present invention controls display of flick input selection candidates so that the flick input selection candidates do not overlap with input characters. Further, the display control unit of the character input device of the present invention displays the input candidates selected from the selection candidates so as to be distinguishable from the input characters.

  The display method of the flick input selection candidate of the character input device of the present invention is a display method for displaying the flick input selection candidate on the display unit in the character input device having a touch panel on the display unit, and the numeric keypad on the display unit. A display step for displaying, an operation detection step for detecting a touched key on the numeric keypad, and a storage step for storing flick input selection candidates for the numeric keypad keyboard. A plurality of flick input selection candidates related to the keys, and displaying the selection candidates side by side so as to be sequentially separated from the touched keys in accordance with a predetermined priority.

  A program having a display function of flick input selection candidates of a character input device according to the present invention executes a display process for displaying flick input selection candidates on the display unit in the character input device having a touch panel on the display unit. A display function for displaying a numeric keypad on the display unit, an operation detection process for detecting a touched key on the numeric keypad, and a memory for storing flick input selection candidates for the numeric keypad keyboard A plurality of flick input selection candidates related to the touched key stored in the storage process, and displaying the selection candidates side by side so as to be sequentially separated from the touched key according to a predetermined priority order. Is provided with a function for causing a character input device to execute the above.

  According to the character input device and the character input method of the present invention, since the input candidates are displayed in a line, the flick input candidates are not hidden by a finger, so that it is possible to easily perform character input.

Front view of the mobile device 10 of the first embodiment 1 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a mobile device 10 according to a first embodiment. Key assignment character information table 26 and explanatory diagram Processing flow diagram of character input of portable device 10 of Embodiment 1 Flick operation and an operation diagram of the mobile device 10 illustrating an example of processing of the mobile device 10 according to the first embodiment. Other front views of portable device 10 in Embodiment 1 Other front views of portable device 10 in Embodiment 1 Front view of portable device 10 according to Embodiment 2 Process flow diagram of character input of portable device 10 of Embodiment 2 Other front views of portable device 10 in Embodiment 2 Explanatory diagram of conventional flick operation

  In the embodiment, a case where the character input device of the present application is mounted on a portable device will be described as an example. Here, the portable device includes a device having no communication function such as an electronic dictionary or an electronic notebook in addition to a device having a communication function such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, an information terminal, or an electronic book. Moreover, this application displays the key for performing the function required in order to input the character and the key for inputting a character on the display part of such a portable apparatus. Keys for entering characters can be assigned to numbers from 0 to 9 such as hiragana and English, and numeric keys, hiragana, and English can be selectively entered by switching character types. Keys may also be composed of keys, keys assigned with symbols, muddy dots, sounding sounds, punctuation marks, and the like. Unless otherwise specified in the present application, the keys for inputting characters, that is, the numeric keypad and the keys other than the numeric keypad but assigned with symbols and punctuation marks are called numeric keys and distinguished from so-called full keyboards such as a QWERTY layout. And Note that the touch panel can be operated not only with a finger but also with a touch pen or the like, but in this embodiment, the expression “operating with a finger” includes operation with a finger.

  Below, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Embodiment 1]
Embodiment 1 will be described. FIG. 1 shows a front view of the mobile device 10 according to the first embodiment. The difference between FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B is only whether or not a finger is displayed. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile device 10 of this embodiment includes a display unit 11, a touch panel unit 12, and a housing 13. The display unit 11 displays an editing screen when inputting characters (FIG. 1), displays a communication level, and displays various applications such as a television and a game. The display unit 11 is mainly composed of a liquid crystal, but is not limited to a liquid crystal and can be realized by an organic EL device or the like. The touch panel 12 is provided in the display unit 11 and has a sensor function for detecting contact with the touch panel by a user's finger or a touch pen. The housing 13 stores various antennas, various devices, boards, and the like for the portable device 10 of the present embodiment to communicate with a base station, a server, and the like, and to execute each application.

  FIG. 1 shows a state where the input keys “I”, “U”, “E”, “O” are displayed in the upper order in the order of 50 tones with respect to the pressed position when the user presses the character input key “A”. ing. As can be seen from FIG. 1 (b), by displaying in the upper direction with respect to the pressed position, the selection candidates are not hidden by the finger as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of the mobile device 10 according to the present embodiment. The mobile device 10 according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 20, a display unit 21, a touch panel unit 22, and a storage unit 23. The control unit 20 further includes a display control unit 24 and an operation detection unit 25.

  The function according to the present invention of each configuration of FIG. 2 will be described. The control unit 20 controls the operation of each block in FIG. In particular, as control according to the first embodiment, a user operation on the touch panel unit 22 may be detected by the operation detection unit 25 and the display unit 24 may be controlled by the display control unit 24. The display unit 21 corresponds to the display unit 11 in FIG. The touch panel unit 22 corresponds to the touch panel 12 of FIG. 1, and outputs a user operation such as a key pressing position and a pressed finger movement to the operation detection unit 25. The storage unit 23 stores software for creating a document, a document file to be created, a key assignment character information table 26 such as characters and symbols assigned to each key of the numeric keypad at the time of document creation, and the like.

  FIG. 3 shows the key assignment character information table 26 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3A is an example of the key assigned character information table 26 when the mobile device 10 is in the hiragana input mode, and FIGS. 3B and 3C are reference diagrams. The pressed keys shown in FIG. 3A are each key of a numeric keypad for inputting numbers. FIG. 3B shows a figure in which a numeric keypad for entering numbers is displayed on the display unit 21. The numeric keypad 30 of the first embodiment is a portion surrounded by a broken line in FIG. The numeric keypad 30 of the first embodiment shows a case of 12 keys in which input characters are assigned not only to numbers from 0 to 9, but also to “*” and “#”. I will do it. In the key assignment character information table 26, inputable character candidates are assigned to the pressed keys of the numeric keypad 30. For example, “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O” are assigned to the press key “1”, and “,” “.” “?” “?” Are assigned to the press key “#”. ! ”Is assigned. It is also defined whether each assigned character is displayed near or far from the pressed key. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3C, it is possible to select a desired character and input the character to the document by the user's flick operation assigned to the touched input key “sa” (press key 3). Character candidates (flick input selection candidates) “shi” “su” “se” “so” are displayed so as to be separated from the pressed key in the order of the Japanese syllabary. Also, it is defined which direction each assigned character is displayed as it moves away from the pressed key. Since the pressed key 3 is defined as the left direction in FIG. 3A, the flick input selection candidates “SHI”, “SU”, “SE” and “SO” are sequentially moved to the upper left direction as shown in FIG. It is displayed tilted. Also, in FIG. 3A, the pressed key 1 is defined as the right direction, so as shown in FIG. 1A, the flick input selection candidates “I”, “U”, “E”, “O” are in the upper right direction in order. It is displayed tilted to. In FIG. 3A, the direction in which the pressed key “2, 5, 8, 0” is tilted is defined as the upper right, but may be directly above. By directing the display of flick input selection candidates toward the center of the display unit, display of flick input selection candidates that are easy to see is realized. In the portable device 10 according to the first embodiment, in the hiragana input mode in which hiragana is input to a document, as shown in FIG. ,... (Omitted) "is displayed. The storage unit 23 of the portable device 10 stores a key assigned character information table in alphabet input mode used when inputting alphabets in a document, and a key assigned character information table in number input mode used when inputting numbers in a document. Etc. are stored.

  FIG. 4 shows a processing flow of character input of the mobile device 10 according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 shows a flick operation and an operation of the mobile device 10 showing an example of the processing of FIG. In FIG. 4, those having S at the head indicate steps. For example, S41 is step 41. Here, a case where character input is performed in the hiragana input mode will be described as an example. When mail creation or text file editing is started (start), the portable device 10 reads the key assigned character information table 26 from the storage unit 23 (S40), and displays a character input screen including the numeric keypad 30 on the display unit 21. (S41). When the user touches the pressed key “1” on which the hiragana “A” is displayed (S42), the operation detection unit 25 receives the touch from the touch panel 12, and detects the touched pressed key (S43). The control unit 20 reads the assigned character (flick input selection candidate) corresponding to the pressed key touched in S43 from the key assigned character information table 26 read in step S40 (S44), and displays the flick input selection candidate. Is displayed (S45), and the display control unit 24 controls the display unit 21 to display in order from the position of the pressed key toward the upper side of the casing of the portable device 10 as shown in FIG. 5A (S46). Here, the read flick input selection candidate is “A, I, U, E, O”, and the direction in which the flick input selection candidate is displayed is “upper right”.

  If the finger is not moved here (No in S47) and is released (Yes in S49), hiragana “a” is provisionally input as shown in FIG. 5B, and the selection is completed (end of selection). Here, provisional input means that the input is not fixed but may be converted into kanji or katakana. After the user touches the pressed key “1” on which the hiragana “A” is displayed (S42), the user moves his / her finger to “U” as shown in FIG. 5C (Yes in S47). Within the range where “U” is displayed (No in S48), when the finger is released (Yes in S49), “U” is provisionally input as shown in FIG. Further, after the user touches the pressed key “1” on which the hiragana “A” is displayed (S42), the user moves his / her finger to “E” as shown in FIG. 5E (Yes in S47). "" Is out of the displayed range (Yes in S48), "e" is provisionally input as shown in FIG. 5 (f), and the selection ends (selection ends). However, if the region is left out of the processing in step S43, the input candidate selected immediately before leaving the region may be maintained, and the maintained input candidate may be temporarily input when the finger is released in step S44.

  Further, in FIG. 5, when the finger is released from the touch panel as shown in FIGS. 5B, 5D, and 5E, or when the finger is removed from the area where the flick input candidate is displayed, the character is temporarily input. However, the selected character is displayed on the display unit with the finger touching the touch panel and selecting the character. In this case, the color of the currently selected character is displayed lightly as shown in FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (c) and 5 (e) in order to distinguish it from the temporarily input character. Alternatively, the selected character is displayed in a different color from the temporarily input character, or is displayed with a dotted line. In this way, easy-to-use character input can be realized.

  FIG. 6 shows another front view of the mobile device 10 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 6A, when the user presses the character input key “TA”, the flick input candidates “CHI”, “TSU”, “TE”, “TO” are displayed in the order of 50 sounds in the upper direction with respect to the pressed portion. . In FIG. 6B, when the user presses the character input key “ra”, the flick input candidates “ri”, “ru”, “re”, and “ro” are displayed in the order of 50 tones in the upper direction with respect to the pressed portion. . In FIG. 6C, when the user presses the character input key “WA”, the flick input candidates “NO” and “N” are displayed in the upper order in the order of 50 sounds with respect to the pressed portion.

  FIG. 7 shows another front view of the mobile device 10 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 shows an example of alphabet input. In FIG. 7A, when the user presses the pressing key “2” on which the alphabet “A” is displayed, the flick input candidates “B”, “C”, and “2” are moved upward with respect to the pressed position. Display in alphabetical order. In FIG. 7B, when the user presses the pressed key “5” on which the alphabet “J” is displayed, the flick input candidates “K”, “L”, and “5” are moved upward with respect to the pressed position. Display in alphabetical order. In FIG. 7C, when the user presses the pressing key “7” on which the alphabet “P” is displayed, the flick input candidates “Q”, “R”, “S”, and “7” are displayed for the pressed portion. Display alphabetically in the upper direction. In FIG. 7, alphabets and numbers are displayed as flick input candidates, but only alphabets may be displayed.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the flick input candidate displayed when the touch panel is touched with a finger in the character input of the mobile device 10 is determined in the upward direction from the position of the pressed key to the casing of the mobile device 10. Display according to the priority. Here, the predetermined priority order is an order of characters linguistically determined for each language, which is in alphabetical order in English and Japanese in alphabetical order. It should be noted that the above priority order can be similarly applied to other languages regardless of Japanese or English. It is necessary to remember that the or regularity displaying the flick input candidate in advance which position when displaying the flick input candidate in a cross as in the prior art, but the array or alphabet sequences alphabetical order (in alphabetical order) Thus, since the order of each character determined for each language is in the head, it is easier to specify the position by displaying in a line as in the first embodiment. Further, by displaying the flick input candidates in a line, there is an effect that the flick input candidates are not hidden by a finger, so that it is easy to input characters.

[Embodiment 2]
A second embodiment will be described. The mobile device 10 according to the second embodiment displays a flick input candidate so that the display of the flick input candidate and the input character do not overlap if the display of the flick input candidate and the input character of the document being created are likely to overlap. Is controlled. As in the first embodiment, flick input candidates are displayed in the upward direction of the casing of the mobile device 10 from the position of the pressed key. Moreover, since the principal part structure of the portable apparatus 10 in Embodiment 2 is the same as Embodiment 2, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 8 shows a front view of the mobile device 10 according to the second embodiment. If the characters already input to the document do not overlap with the display of the flick input candidate, as in the first embodiment, the flick input candidate is displayed on the casing of the portable device 10 from the position of the pressing key as shown in FIG. Display in the direction. When the creation of the document proceeds and the number of characters already input increases, flick input candidates may overlap with characters already input to the document as shown in FIG. The control unit 20 of the mobile device 10 according to the second embodiment calculates an area (range) for displaying flick input candidates and an area (range) for displaying input characters, and the display of flick input candidates is converted to a document. If it is determined that the input character overlaps, the display control unit 24 controls the display unit 21 so that the flick input candidate display and the input character do not overlap as shown in FIG. When the number of input characters further increases, the area where flick input candidates are displayed is controlled as shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the mobile device 10 according to the second embodiment, when the display control unit 24 overlaps the characters already input to the document, the display control unit 24 reduces the height at which the flick input candidates are displayed and has already been input. Control so that it does not overlap with the characters of. When the display height of the flick input candidate cannot be adjusted, the input characters are scrolled as shown in FIG. 8E so that a sentence closer to the input character is displayed.

  FIG. 9 shows a processing flow of character input of the mobile device 10 according to the second embodiment. However, since most of the flow is the same as in the first embodiment, only the parts different from the first embodiment are shown in FIG. When the flick input candidate is read as shown in FIG. 9 (S44) and the direction in which the flick input selection candidate is displayed is read (S45), the control unit 20 determines whether the input character and the display of the flick input candidate overlap. . If it is determined that they overlap (Yes in S451), it is determined whether or not the display of the flick input candidate can be adjusted. If possible (Yes in S452), the display of the flick input candidate is adjusted (S453) and the flick input candidate is displayed. (S46). Here, the adjustment means that the height at which the flick input candidate is displayed is lowered so as not to overlap the already input character. FIGS. 8C and 8D are diagrams in this case.

  If the display of the flick input candidate cannot be adjusted (No in S452), the input character is scrolled (S454), and the flick input candidate is displayed on the display unit (S46). The figure in this case is shown in FIG.

  If the display of the flick input candidate and the input character do not overlap (No in S451), the flick input candidate is displayed on the display unit (S46). The figure in this case is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 shows another front view of the mobile device 10 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10A is a diagram in the case where the pressed key “2” in which the hiragana “I” is displayed, and FIG. 10B is a diagram in which input characters are displayed when “A” is touched. It is a figure which adjusts and displays the display of a flick input candidate in order to enlarge the area | region to display.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the flick input candidate displayed when the touch panel is touched with a finger when inputting characters on the mobile device 10 is hiragana upward from the position of the pressed key to the casing of the mobile device 10. When displaying in alphabetical order when typing, and alphabetical order when entering alphabets, if flick input candidates are likely to overlap with the entered characters, the flick input candidates are displayed so that they do not overlap with the entered characters. The display of the part is controlled. As a result, in addition to the effects similar to those of the first embodiment, it is possible to input characters while displaying the input characters in an easy-to-see manner, so that there is an effect that a document can be created without making a mistake in text.

  In addition, the program for realizing the function of each part of the portable device 10 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium is read into the computer system and executed to execute the function of each part. It may be realized. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Furthermore, the program is held for a certain period of time like a volatile memory (RAM) inside a computer system that becomes a server or a client when the program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Including things.

  The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient. The program may be provided through the Internet.

  The character input device according to the present invention can be applied to a character input device that presents candidates such as words and sentences to be input when creating a document such as an e-mail on a mobile phone.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Portable apparatus 11, 21 Display part 12, 22, 110 Touch panel part 13 Case 20 Control part 23 Storage part 24 Display control part 25 Operation detection part 26 Key allocation character information table

Claims (7)

A character input device having a touch panel on a display unit,
A display control unit for displaying a numeric keypad on the display unit;
An operation detection unit for detecting a touched key of the numeric keypad;
A storage unit for storing flick input selection candidates of the numeric keypad;
With
The display control unit reads a plurality of flick input selection candidates related to the touched key from the storage unit, and displays the selection candidates side by side so as to be sequentially separated from the touched key according to a predetermined priority. Character input device.   The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined priority order is alphabetical order or alphabetical order.   The character input device according to claim 2, wherein the selection candidates are displayed side by side in the central direction of the display unit.   The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls display of the flick input selection candidate so that the flick input selection candidate does not overlap with the input character.   The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays an input candidate selected from the selection candidates so that the input candidate can be distinguished from the input character. In a character input device including a touch panel on a display unit, a display method for displaying flick input selection candidates on the display unit,
A display step for displaying a numeric keypad on the display unit;
An operation detecting step of detecting a touched key of the numeric keypad;
Storing a flick input selection candidate of the numeric keypad keyboard,
Reading out a plurality of flick input selection candidates related to the touched key stored in the storing step, and displaying the selection candidates side by side so as to be sequentially separated from the touched key in accordance with a predetermined priority. A display method of flick input selection candidates of the character input device. In a character input device having a touch panel on a display unit, a program having a display function for causing the character input device to perform display processing for displaying flick input selection candidates on the display unit,
Display processing for displaying a numeric keypad on the display unit;
An operation detection process for detecting a touched key on the numeric keypad;
Storing a flick input selection candidate of the numeric keypad keyboard,
The character input device executes a process of reading a plurality of flick input selection candidates related to the touched key stored in the storage process and displaying the selection candidates side by side so as to be sequentially separated from the touched key according to a predetermined priority. The program which has a display function of the flick input selection candidate of the character input device provided with the function to make.