JP2013149027A - Portable information terminal, display control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem that, according to conventional techniques, icons are displayed within an operation area, however, a method for relocating the icons in the operation area and a determination in the relocation have not been considered specifically.SOLUTION: The portable information terminal according to the present invention includes: input means allowing a user to input, on a screen of the portable information terminal, a range easy to operate for fingers operated by the user; storage means that stores area information corresponding to the input range; and optimizing means that, when a plurality of icons are displayed on the screen of the portable information terminal, optimizes the display such that a part or all of the plurality of icons are located within the range according to the area information stored by the storage means. The optimization includes icon contraction processing.

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control technique for a portable information terminal including a touch panel that can be used for input operation.

  Mobile information terminals such as mobile phone terminals, PDAs, and music players often have a touch panel for input operations. In addition, screens for display tend to be larger year by year, and there are many scenes in which the touch panel can be operated only with both hands. Since it can be operated with a large screen and a touch panel, a large number of physical switches and buttons can be omitted.

  As a related art of a portable terminal using a touch panel, for example, one disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known.

JP 2009-163278 A

  On the other hand, the icon operation, which has been conventionally operated with one hand due to the large screen, sometimes has to be operated with both hands. Patent Document 1 proposes a method for displaying an operation instruction icon within an operable range.

  However, there is no mention of a case where the number of icons is large or an icon layout method that fully considers operability. For example, there is no particular proposal for solving problems when icons are laid out on the entire screen.

  An object of the present invention is to perform display control of an operation screen that is more excellent in operability than the conventional technology when operating a terminal information terminal equipped with a touch panel.

  In order to solve the above problems, a portable information terminal according to the present invention includes an input unit for inputting a range in which a user's finger can easily operate on a screen of the portable information terminal, and an area corresponding to the input range. When a plurality of icons are displayed on the screen of the portable information terminal and a storage unit that stores information, a part or all of the plurality of icons is arranged in a range according to the area information stored by the storage unit And an optimization means for optimizing display, wherein the optimization includes icon reduction processing.

  The display control technique of the present invention improves the operability of the portable information terminal as compared with the prior art.

It is a figure which illustrates the external appearance from the front direction of the portable information terminal of this invention. It is a typical block diagram of the portable information terminal 101 in the present invention. It is a block diagram of the module in the portable information terminal 101 in this invention. The flowchart for demonstrating the process which acquires and sets the operation range in this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen which sets the operation range in this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen which sets the display position of the control icon for operation in this invention. 6 is a flowchart for explaining display layout optimization processing in consideration of operability in the present invention. The example of the icon rearrangement in this invention is shown. The other example of the icon rearrangement in this invention is shown. The flowchart for demonstrating the optimization process which considered the shape and size of the icon in this invention. The example of the icon display after the optimization process in this invention is shown. The other example of the icon display after the optimization process in this invention is shown.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a specific example of the appearance of a portable information terminal in the present embodiment. Examples of portable information terminals to which the present invention can be applied include cellular phones, PDAs (PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANCE), and portable music playback terminals.

  The portable information terminal 101 includes a screen display unit 102 which is a liquid crystal device and a touch panel 103 whose surface is a sensor, which occupies most of the portable information terminal 101 main body. Various information such as images, characters and icons can be displayed on the screen display unit 102. The power button 105 is provided on the side surface of the portable information terminal 101 and can be turned on and off by pressing it. The operation key 106 is provided so that the operation can be performed without using the touch panel 103, and the description of the operation key 106 is displayed in the vicinity of the operation key 106 of the screen display unit 102 in accordance with the processing, so that the key corresponding to the processing Enable operation. Although the operation keys are illustrated in the figure, the operation keys may be configured by a slide sensor that can be controlled by tracing.

  Although not shown, the portable information terminal 101 is a wireless communication unit such as a communication unit such as a USB communication unit, an infrared communication unit, and Bluetooth (registered trademark) that performs charging and data communication with other information processing apparatuses, and a cellular phone. Part, battery and power supply control part.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal hardware configuration of the portable information terminal 101 according to the present embodiment.
The portable information terminal 101 includes a CPU 201 that executes a program stored in the ROM 203 (including a program that implements each process of FIG. 3 described later), and the CPU 201 comprehensively controls each unit via an internal bus 205. . The RAM 202 functions as a memory or work area for the CPU 201. The ROM 203 and the storage device 204 function as an external storage device, and can store image data, music data, and the like in addition to programs processed by the CPU 201. Furthermore, the screen display unit 102 includes a display control unit 206 that displays images, characters, icons, and the like, and an input control unit 207 that controls the touch panel 103.

  The interface control unit 208 includes a wireless interface 209 and a wired interface 210 for performing communication processing such as the above-described USB, infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), and mobile phone, and is controlled by the CPU 201 via the internal bus 205. Is done. The portable information terminal 101 controls the wireless interface unit 208 and the wired interface unit 209 via the interface control unit 208 to connect to an external device or a cellular phone network.

  The power supply control unit 211 controls power supply from the power supply unit 212 such as a battery or a DC power supply. The power supply control unit 211 can control the backlight illuminance of the liquid crystal device 102 and control power saving by transmitting the state of the power supply unit to the CPU 201 via the internal bus 205.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a logical module group 300 realized by a program executed on the portable information terminal 101.
Here, the control module 302 exchanges information with the recording areas of the RAM 202, the ROM 203, and the storage device 204, and cooperates with other modules to generally control the functions of the portable information terminal 101. .

  The communication processing module 301 performs processing for exchanging necessary information with an external network via the interface control unit 207. Therefore, the communication processing module 301 has a function of processing a communication protocol for communicating with the above-described external device or mobile phone network. Examples of communication protocols include USB, infrared communication (Infrared Data Association), mobile phone, and wireless LAN communication (Wi-Fi).

  The display control unit processing module 303 displays information on the liquid crystal device 102 via the display control unit 206. The input processing module 304 can accept and manage an operation instruction from the touch panel 103 corresponding to the display processing in the display control processing module 303 via the input control unit 207. The optimization processing module 305 optimizes the display screen (changes the size of icons and changes the display layout) based on operation information from the input processing module 304 recorded in a storage area such as the ROM 203. Screen information optimized for the display control processing module 303 can be provided. With these processes, icons can be displayed on the liquid crystal device 102 in an arbitrary layout.

  Next, a process for determining an area that can be easily operated by the user in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for describing processing for setting a range in which a finger to be operated reaches when a user operating portable information terminal 101 operates with one hand. In this flowchart, each processing module of FIG. 3 described above will be described as the main subject of processing. Specifically, each process is realized by the CPU 201 executing a program recorded in one of the storage means of the RAM 202, the ROM 203, and the storage device 204 in the portable information terminal 101.

  In step S <b> 401, the user selects an operation range setting function on the touch panel 103 from a menu displayed on the liquid crystal device 102 of the portable information terminal 101. The input processing module 304 recognizes that the operation range setting function has been called from the selected position, and transmits it to the control module 302. The control module 302 instructs the display control unit processing module 303 to display the operation range setting function screen.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of display when the operation range setting function is displayed on the liquid crystal device 102. In the lower area of the liquid crystal device 102, a “return” button for canceling the operation range setting function and a “next” button for proceeding to the next process are displayed. Each button display is linked to the position of the operation key 106, and the operation can be advanced to the next process by pressing the operation key 106. For example, the user inputs a range that can be easily operated by one hand with a finger 501 to be operated (for example, a thumb) (or may be an operable range) by tracing the finger 501 on the illustrated screen. The operation range is set. Here, it is assumed that the region 503 is set by the finger 501 as a range in which one-handed operation is easy.

  In step S <b> 402, the input processing module 304 performs determination processing for determining whether an operation range setting operation has been executed. If no operation is performed, the process of S402 is repeated. After the operation range is set, it is determined that the operation range setting operation has been executed by pressing the “Next” button, and the process proceeds to S403. If the input processing module 304 detects that the “return” button is pressed, the operation range setting function is regarded as canceled, and the control module 302 terminates the processing shown in FIG. 4 and ends.

  In step S <b> 403, the control module 302 receives information related to the area 503 from the input processing module 304, and records it in a predetermined storage area such as the ROM 203 as operation range area information.

  In step S <b> 404, the control module 302 instructs the display control unit processing module 303 to display a control icon setting function screen. Thereby, the control icon setting function screen illustrated in FIG. 6 is displayed on the liquid crystal device 102. Here, FIG. 6 shows a display example when the position 601 for displaying the control icon is set by the user's finger 501 (for example, thumb). In FIG. 6, the user can specify an arbitrary position for the position of the control icon. Similarly to FIG. 5, the “complete” button and the “return” button for instructing the completion and cancellation of this setting process are also displayed.

  In S405, the input processing module 304 can detect an operation on the screen of FIG. 6, and a determination process corresponding to the result can be performed. While no operation is performed, the process of S405 is repeatedly executed. If pressing of the “complete” button is detected, the process proceeds to S406. If pressing of the “return” button is detected, the process returns to S402.

  In step S <b> 406, the control module 302 receives information related to the position 601 where the control icon is displayed from the input processing module 304, and records it in a predetermined storage area such as the ROM 203 as control icon display position information.

Next, an optimization process for improving operability in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing processing for optimizing the display of an operation target such as an icon in an area where the finger 501 to be operated is easy to operate when the user operates the portable information terminal 101 with one hand. . In this flowchart, each processing module of FIG. 3 described above will be described as the main subject of processing. Specifically, each process is realized by the CPU 201 executing a program recorded in one of the storage means of the RAM 202, the ROM 203, and the storage device 204 in the portable information terminal 101.

  First, in step S701, the control module 302 acquires operation range area information and control icon display position information as arrangement information from the above-described predetermined storage area. The acquired arrangement information is passed to the optimization processing module 305, and the optimization processing module 305 determines the layout (arrangement) of icons to be displayed on the liquid crystal device 102, as will be described later.

  In step S <b> 702, the display control processing module 303 displays a normal screen that causes the user to perform an operation. Specifically, the layout of icons and the like is performed on the liquid crystal device 102 without using the display information determined by the optimization processing module 305 and using the display area in the liquid crystal device 102 to the maximum extent. Display control in the case of breakage is performed. A display example of this normal screen will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, on the liquid crystal device 102, an icon group 801, an icon group 803, and a control icon 802 are laid out and displayed as shown. In order to make the explanation easy to understand, the icon group 801 that is laid out and displayed in a range that is difficult to operate with the finger 501 that is operated in the above-described operation range setting is shaded. Such a normal screen display assumes, for example, an initial display of a soft keyboard or an initial display when various applications are activated.

  In step S <b> 703, the input processing module 304 determines whether the activated soft keyboard and various applications themselves have been terminated. When the end operation is performed, the control module 302 ends the process illustrated in FIG. 7 in accordance with the end process of the activated soft keyboard or various applications. If the ending operation is not performed, the process proceeds to S704. In step S704, the input processing module 304 determines whether the control icon 802 has been pressed. The pressing of the control icon 802 is input via the touch panel 103 and detected. If it is determined that the control icon 802 has been pressed, the process proceeds to S705, and if not, the process returns to S703.

  In step S <b> 705, the optimization processing module 305 confirms based on the above-described arrangement information whether the layout can be changed so that all the icons can be arranged within the range (area 503) that is easy to operate with the operating finger 501. If it can be arranged within the range, the process proceeds to S706, and if it cannot be arranged, the process proceeds to S707.

  In step S <b> 706, the optimization processing module 305 generates display information for display in a state where the layout has been changed so that all icons are arranged in the area 503, and passes the display information to the display control processing module 303. Based on this display information, the display control processing module 303 displays the icon group after the layout change on the liquid crystal device 102 via the display control unit 206. At this time, the control icon 805 is displayed at the position where the control icon is displayed so that the original display can be restored.

  In step S <b> 707, the optimization processing module 305 generates display information for display in a state where a layout change in which some icons are arranged in the area 503 is performed, and passes the display information to the display control processing module 303. In this display information, after a part of the icons are displayed on the liquid crystal device 102, the display is switched within a range (area 503) in which other icons that could not be displayed are easily operated in response to a scroll operation by the user. To be done. Based on this display information, the display control processing module 303 displays the icon group after the layout change on the liquid crystal device 102 via the display control unit 206. At this time, the control icon 805 is displayed at the position where the control icon is displayed so that the original display can be restored. FIG. 8 shows a display example 804 when some icons are displayed. The display control in S706 and S707 makes it possible to easily operate an icon that was difficult to reach by one-handed operation without changing the portable information terminal 101 or using both hands.

  In the display example 804, display control is performed such that an icon that is outside the easy-to-operate range (area 503) on the normal screen is changed in layout to the range. Here, the icon group 803 on the normal screen can be controlled to be displayed outside the easy-to-operate range (area 503) in the liquid crystal device 102 after the layout change.

  In step S <b> 708, the input processing module 304 determines whether the activated soft keyboard and various applications themselves have been terminated. When the end operation is performed, the control module 302 ends the process illustrated in FIG. 7 in accordance with the end process of the activated soft keyboard or various applications. If the ending operation is not performed, the process proceeds to S709. In step S709, the input processing module 304 determines whether the control icon 805 has been pressed. The depression of the control icon 805 is input via the touch panel 103 and detected. If it is determined that the control icon 805 has been pressed, the process returns to S702 to display the normal screen, and if not, the process returns to S708.

  In FIG. 9, another example of display control in the case where an icon group that is outside the range is arranged in the range (area 503) where the finger 501 can be easily operated using the control icon will be described.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of operation and display of control icons for laying out icon groups clockwise and counterclockwise based on the control icon display position information described above. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which two icons, clockwise and counterclockwise, are displayed. However, it goes without saying that only a clockwise control icon can be displayed.

  In FIG. 9, a counterclockwise control icon 902 and a clockwise control icon 903 are displayed in the area 901 based on the control icon display position information described above. Other icon groups are displayed within the displayable range of the liquid crystal device 102. The figure is shaded so that the operation of the icon group 904 whose layout is changed by the operation of the control icon is easy to understand.

  Here, by selecting the counterclockwise control icon 902, the displayed icon group is rotated counterclockwise and laid out. When the control icon 902 is pressed, the optimization processing module 305 passes display information obtained by re-laying out the icon group to the display control processing module 303 accordingly. At this time, the display control processing module 303 controls the display based on the display information, and the display is changed from the state of FIG. 9A to the state of FIG. 9B. Each time the counterclockwise control icon 902 is pressed by the user, the icon display is changed as shown in FIG. 9C and FIG. Even with such display control, an icon that is outside the easy-to-operate range (area 503) on the normal screen can be easily operated with one hand without changing the portable information terminal 101 or using both hands. become.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12, an optimization process that takes into account the shape of the icon and the size of the icon will be described.
FIG. 10 shows the display of the operation target such as an icon and the shape and size of the icon within a range (area 503) in which the user can operate the portable information terminal 101 with one hand. It is a flowchart explaining the arrangement | positioning process for optimizing in consideration. In this flowchart, each processing module of FIG. Specifically, each process is realized by the CPU 201 executing a program recorded in one of the storage means of the RAM 202, the ROM 203, and the storage device 204 in the portable information terminal 101.

  First, in S1001, the control module 302 acquires operation range area information and control icon display position information as arrangement information from the predetermined storage area described above.

  In step S1002, the display control processing module 303 displays a normal screen that causes the user to perform an operation. Specifically, the layout of icons and the like was performed on the liquid crystal device 102 without using the display information determined by the optimization processing module 305 and using the display area in the liquid crystal device 102 to the maximum extent. Display control is performed.

  In S1003, it is determined whether the soft keyboard on which the control module 302 has been activated and the various applications themselves are programs that provide a display that can be optimized, such as layout change or icon size change. Here, depending on the function of the activated program, there is a case where the icon arrangement must be fixed, so this determination is performed. If the optimization process is possible, the process proceeds to S1004. Otherwise, the process proceeds to S1008, and the normal screen display control is performed without performing the optimization process, and the process is terminated.

In step S1004, the optimization processing module 305 reduces the display contents (all icons) to be displayed within a range (area 503) in which the finger 501 operated by the user is easy to operate, and then rearranges ( Display information when the layout is changed is generated. With the generation of the display information, in S1005, the optimization processing module 305 checks whether the reduction and rearrangement satisfy a condition that does not impair the operability for the user. Examples of conditions that do not impair operability include the following examples.
Condition 1: One of the vertical and horizontal sizes of the reduced icon is less than a predetermined pixel size. This is because the selection operation with the finger 501 becomes difficult if the vertical and horizontal size of the icon is too small.

  If it is determined in S1005 that the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to S1006, and if not, the process proceeds to S1007. In step S <b> 1006, the display control processing module 303 generated in step S <b> 1004 is passed to the display control processing module 303, and display based on the display information is controlled on the liquid crystal device 102.

  In step S <b> 1007, the optimization processing module 305 generates display information when rearrangement (layout change) is performed without reducing the display contents (all icons), and passes the display information to the display control processing module 303. . The display control processing module 303 controls display based on the display information on the liquid crystal device 102. The rearrangement here assumes that the display optimization process is performed by the method described with reference to FIG.

A display example when the optimization process of FIG. 10 is performed will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.
FIG. 11A shows a display state of a normal screen that has not been optimized. On the other hand, FIG. 11B shows a display state of a screen displayed as a result of the above-described S1006. In this case, the size of the icon group 1101 is reduced only in the vertical direction, and the layout is changed so that a part of the icon is arranged in a range (area 503) that can be easily operated by the finger 501 operated by the user. You can see that As described above, since a part of the operation target icon only needs to be arranged within the range (area 503) that the finger 501 can easily operate, when reducing, it is not necessary to reduce both the vertical and horizontal directions. Only the size may be reduced.

  Similarly, FIG. 12A shows a display state of a normal screen that has not been optimized. FIG. 12B shows a display state when the layout is changed after all the icons in the icon group 1201 have been reduced so that the finger 501 can be placed within an easy-to-operate range (area 503). At this time, it is determined that the reduced icon group 1202 becomes too small and impairs operability. Therefore, optimization processing is performed so that the display state shown in FIG. 12C is obtained as a result of the processing of S1007 described above. Specifically, an icon group 1203 is displayed in which the number of icons to be displayed is reduced so that some icons of the icon group 1201 are arranged in a range (area 503) that the finger 501 can easily operate. This is display control similar to the processing described in FIG.

  In the case of changing the layout by reducing the icons, the reduction rate of each icon may be variable according to the position of the icon arranged within the range (area 503) that the finger 501 can easily operate. For example, it can be said that the region on the base side of the finger 501 (for example, in the vicinity of the “return” button in FIG. 5) is relatively difficult to operate with the finger 501 than the other regions. Therefore, with respect to the icons arranged on the base side of the finger 501, the reduction rate is relatively suppressed with respect to icons to be arranged in other areas in the area 503. By optimizing the reduction ratio, display control with higher operability is performed.

  According to the above-described invention, in the operation of the portable information terminal 101, the portable information terminal 101 is switched or the two hands are used by displaying display contents (icons) in an appropriate arrangement in an area that can be operated with one hand. Therefore, it becomes possible to provide the user with an easy-to-use operating environment.

(Other examples)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

  Furthermore, the present invention includes a system configured by appropriately combining the above-described embodiments and functions thereof.

Claims (7)

On the screen of the portable information terminal, an input means for inputting a range that can be easily operated by a finger operated by the user,
Storage means for storing area information corresponding to the input range;
When a plurality of icons are displayed on the screen of the portable information terminal, the display is optimized so that some or all of the plurality of icons are arranged in a range according to the area information stored by the storage unit. Optimization means, and
The mobile information terminal characterized in that the optimization includes icon reduction processing.   Furthermore, it has a control icon display means which arrange | positions the control icon for returning to the display when not optimizing on the said screen where the optimized display by the said optimization means was performed. Item 2. A portable information terminal according to Item 1. A display control method in a portable information terminal,
On the screen of the portable information terminal, an input process for inputting a range that can be easily operated by a finger operated by the user,
A storage step of storing region information corresponding to the input range in a storage unit;
When a plurality of icons are displayed on the screen of the portable information terminal, the display is optimized so that some or all of the plurality of icons are arranged in a range according to the area information stored in the storage unit. An optimization process,
The display control method, wherein the optimization includes an icon reduction process.   A program for causing a computer to function as the means according to claim 1. On the screen of the portable information terminal, an input means for inputting a range that can be easily operated by a finger operated by the user,
Storage means for storing area information corresponding to the input range;
Display means for controlling the display of a plurality of icons on the screen of the portable information terminal without using the area information stored by the storage means;
When a plurality of icons are displayed on the screen of the portable information terminal, a part or all of the plurality of icons arranged outside the range according to the area information stored by the storage unit when displayed by the display unit The mobile information terminal includes: an optimization unit configured to optimize display so that the display unit is arranged in a range according to the region information stored by the storage unit. Furthermore, on the screen on which the optimized display by the optimization means has been performed, there is a control icon display means for arranging a control icon for returning to the display when the optimization is not performed,
6. The portable information terminal according to claim 5, wherein the display unit controls display of a plurality of icons in accordance with an instruction from the control icon without using the area information stored in the storage unit. .   A program for causing a computer to function as the means according to claim 5 or 6.

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