JP2016119545A - Information processing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce operations when a user inputs characters.SOLUTION: An information processing device 100 includes: a display part 111 for displaying various images; an operation detection part 112 for detecting a contact operation by a user; an operation discrimination part 113 for discriminating the kind of the contact operation; a prediction word storage part 114 for storing a prediction word; a processing execution part 115 for executing processing corresponding to the contact operation; and a display control part 116 for controlling display contents of the display part 111. Then, the information processing device 100 associates a character input mode for determining the kind of a character inputted by an operation of a character key with a predetermined operation to the character key, such as a flick operation, receives the character of the kind determined in the character input mode associated with the performed operation in the case that the predetermined operation is performed by the user, and preferentially displays a prediction word of a kind to be determined in the character input mode among prediction words predicted from the received character on a screen.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a program.

  As a prior art described in the publication, in a key operation using a software keyboard, when a key operation different from a normal key operation such as a long press of a key is accepted, a character string input in a certain input mode, There is an information processing apparatus that converts a key operation for inputting a character string into a character string that is input when the operation is performed in another input mode. (See Patent Document 1)

JP 2013-131908 A

  In the present invention, compared to a configuration in which a character string input according to a certain input rule is converted into a character string according to another input rule by a key operation different from normal, a user can input characters. The purpose is to reduce the operation.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an accepting means for accepting an operation on a character key used for inputting a character, an input rule for determining a type of the character input by the operation on the character key, and the character key in advance When a predetermined operation is performed by a user, the type of character determined by the input rule is accepted and predicted from the received character. The information processing apparatus includes a display unit that preferentially displays a predicted word of a type determined by the input rule among the predicted words.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the predetermined operation is performed by the user, the input rule set at that time is changed to the input rule associated with the predetermined operation. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a changing unit that performs the processing.
The invention according to claim 3 includes, as the input rules, a first input rule that determines the type of characters to be input as hiragana and a second input rule that determines the type of characters that are input as katakana, When the predetermined operation associated with the first input rule is performed, the display unit accepts a hiragana character assigned to the operated character key, and from the received character The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a predicted word expressed in hiragana or kanji is preferentially displayed on the screen among predicted predicted words.
In the invention according to claim 4, as the input rule, a third input rule for determining a character type to be input as a lowercase letter, and a fourth input rule for determining a character type to be input as an uppercase letter. When the predetermined operation associated with the third input rule is performed, the display means accepts and accepts a lower case letter of the alphabet assigned to the operated character key. 4. The information processing according to claim 1, wherein among the predicted words predicted from the lowercase letters, the predicted words expressed in lowercase letters are preferentially displayed on the screen. 5. Device.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the first input rule or the second input rule is set in the display means, and a character string that is not expressed in kana is input by operating the character key. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an input character string in English is preferentially displayed on the screen as the predicted word. 6.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the display means is set with the third input rule or the fourth input rule, and the number of characters of the character string input by operating the character key is predetermined. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein if the input character string is greater than or equal to the threshold value and the input character string can be expressed in kana, the input character string in kana is preferentially displayed on the screen as the predicted word. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 5.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, a function for accepting an operation on a character key used for character input to a computer, an input rule for determining the type of character input by the operation on the character key, and the character key When a predetermined operation is performed by the user, a character of a type determined by the input rule is received, and the received character is This is a program for realizing a function of preferentially displaying the predicted word of the type determined by the input rule among the predicted words to be displayed on the screen.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, compared with a configuration in which a character string that has been input with a certain input rule is converted into a character string with another input rule by a key operation different from normal, the user can It is possible to reduce operations when inputting characters.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, compared with a configuration in which a character string that has been input according to a certain input rule is converted into a character string according to another input rule by a key operation different from a normal one, Easy to change.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, compared with a configuration in which a character string that has been input according to a certain input rule is converted into a character string according to another input rule by a key operation different from normal, the user can It is possible to reduce operations when inputting characters in hiragana or kanji.
According to the invention of claim 4, the user can compare a configuration in which a character string that has been input with a certain input rule is converted into a character string with another input rule by a key operation different from the normal one. You can reduce the number of operations when entering lowercase letters.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the user can compare a configuration in which a character string that has been input according to a certain input rule is converted into a character string according to another input rule by a key operation different from normal. It is possible to reduce the number of operations when inputting English characters.
According to the invention described in claim 6, the user can compare a configuration in which a character string input according to a certain input rule is converted into a character string according to another input rule by a key operation different from the normal one. It is possible to reduce operations when inputting characters for kana.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, compared with a configuration in which a character string that has been input according to a certain input rule is converted into a character string according to another input rule by a key operation different from normal, the user can A function that reduces operations when inputting characters can be realized by a computer.

It is the figure which showed the hardware structural example of the information processing apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the software keyboard which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the function structural example of the information processing apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. (A)-(d) is a figure for demonstrating an example of the flick operation by a user. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence when flick operation is performed at the time of character input. (A)-(d) is a figure for demonstrating an example of the process at the time of a user performing flick operation at the time of character input.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<Hardware configuration of information processing device>
First, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is a computer apparatus, and examples thereof include an image forming apparatus such as a PC (Personal Computer), a portable information terminal (so-called smartphone or tablet terminal), a printer, and the like.

  As illustrated, the information processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that performs arithmetic processing, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 that is a storage area, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, and a storage device 104. . The information processing apparatus 100 also includes a display mechanism 105, a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as a communication I / F) 106, and an input device 107. Each of these functional units exchanges data via the bus 108.

  The CPU 101 executes software and programs such as an OS (Operating System). The ROM 102 stores various programs and the like, and the RAM 103 is used as a work area when the CPU 101 executes various programs and the like. A program for realizing various functions in the information processing apparatus 100 is loaded from the ROM 102 to the RAM 103, and processing based on this program is executed by the CPU 101, whereby the various functions of the information processing apparatus 100 are realized. The storage device 104 is an area for storing input data and output data in various programs.

  The program executed by the CPU 101 is stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic recording medium (magnetic tape, magnetic disk, etc.), an optical recording medium (optical disk, etc.), a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. Can be offered at. Alternatively, the information processing apparatus 100 may be downloaded using communication means such as the Internet.

  The display mechanism 105 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal touch panel display (hereinafter referred to as a touch panel), and displays various screens related to the information processing apparatus 100. Further, the display mechanism 105 detects that the user has made contact with the displayed screen, and accepts an operation from the user. As the means for detecting the contact, any means such as a means for detecting based on the pressure caused by the contact or a means for detecting based on the static electricity of the contacted object may be used. Further, in the following description, an operation by a user's finger touching the screen will be described as a contact operation. However, the user's contact may be performed by, for example, a touch pen held by the user.

  Further, the display mechanism 105 displays a software keyboard in which input processing performed by the keyboard is realized by software. In the software keyboard, character input keys corresponding to each character are arranged in the same arrangement (for example, QWERTY arrangement) as a general keyboard. And a user inputs the character corresponding to the selected character input key by performing operation which selects the character input key of a software keyboard. Details of the software keyboard will be described later.

The communication I / F 106 is connected to a communication line (not shown) and functions as an interface that communicates with an external device connected to the communication line.
The input device 107 is configured by a device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and is used for an input operation by a user.

<Configuration of software keyboard>
Next, the configuration of the software keyboard will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the software keyboard 200 according to the present embodiment. The software keyboard 200 includes a character input key 201, a mode switching key 202, a predicted word display unit 203, a character display unit 204, a confirmation key 205, and a conversion key 206.

  The character input key 201 is a key used for inputting characters and symbols, and keys corresponding to each character are arranged in a QWERTY array. Information input using the input character key 201 is displayed on the character display unit 204. In addition, by switching the character input mode for determining the type of character to be input in character input, various characters and symbols such as hiragana, katakana, and alphabetic characters are input. In the present embodiment, a character input key 201 is used as an example of a character key. A character input mode is used as an example of input rules.

  In the present embodiment, the character input mode is divided into a Japanese input mode and an English character input mode. Furthermore, the Japanese input mode is divided into a hiragana input mode and a katakana input mode. The alphabet input mode is divided into an uppercase input mode and a lowercase input mode. That is, there are four character input modes, hiragana input mode, katakana input mode, uppercase input mode, and lowercase input mode. In the present embodiment, hiragana input mode, katakana input mode, lowercase input mode, and uppercase input mode are used as examples of the first input rule, the second input rule, the third input rule, and the fourth input rule, respectively.

  The hiragana input mode is a mode in which hiragana is input by selecting the character input key 201. The katakana input mode is a mode in which a katakana is input by selecting the character input key 201. The capital letter input mode is a mode in which alphabetic capital letters are input by selecting the character input key 201. The lowercase input mode is a mode in which lowercase letters are input by selecting the character input key 201.

  For example, when the user selects the character input key 201 “a” in the hiragana input mode, the character “a” is input. Further, for example, when the user selects the character input key 201 “a” in the katakana input mode, the character “a” is input. Further, when the user selects the character input key 201 “a” in the capital letter input mode, the character “A” is input. When the user selects the character input key 201 “a” in the small letter input mode, the character “a” is input.

  Mode switching keys 202a, 202b, and 202c are keys used for switching the character input mode. Here, the mode switching key 202a is used to switch between the Japanese input mode and the English character input mode. That is, when the mode switching key 202a is selected by the user in the Japanese input mode, the mode is switched to the alphabet input mode. In this case, for example, the alphabet input mode is switched to the lower case input mode. On the other hand, when the mode switching key 202a is selected by the user in the alphabet input mode, the mode is switched to the Japanese input mode. In this case, for example, the hiragana input mode is switched to the Japanese input mode.

  The mode switching key 202b is a key used for switching between the hiragana input mode and the katakana input mode of the Japanese input mode. For example, when the mode switching key 202b is selected by the user in the hiragana input mode, the mode is switched to the katakana input mode. Further, the mode switching key 202c is a key used for switching between an uppercase input mode and a lowercase input mode of the alphabet input mode. For example, when the mode switching key 202c is selected by the user in the uppercase input mode, the mode is switched to the lowercase input mode.

  However, switching of the character input mode is not limited to the configuration performed by such mode switching keys 202a to 202c. For example, the configuration may be such that four character input modes are sequentially switched with one key.

  The predicted word display unit 203 displays a character string predicted from characters input by the user (hereinafter referred to as a predicted word). When the user selects the predicted word displayed on the predicted word display unit 203, the selected predicted word is input. Here, the prediction word may be registered in advance as a dictionary in which the priority of the prediction candidate is determined, or may be presented as a prediction candidate after the priority is calculated from the user's past input history.

  When the dictionary is registered in advance, a plurality of character strings starting with “A” are registered as predicted words related to “A”. For example, “ASU”, “You”, “Ashita”, “Tomorrow” A character string such as “is stored as a higher-order predicted word. In addition, when a predicted word is presented from the user's past input history, for example, if the user frequently inputs “greeting” as a character string starting with “a”, the character string “greeting” is It is stored as a higher-order predicted word.

  Here, the size of the predicted word display unit 203 is predetermined, and the amount of character strings that can be displayed is limited. That is, the predicted words are displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 in descending order of priority. Therefore, the predicted words are not displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 at the first time point. When the user selects a predicted word with a low priority that is not displayed on the predicted word display unit 203, the user may perform a so-called scrolling process in which the entire image displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 is slid. By performing the scrolling process, predicted words are displayed in order from the highest priority.

  The predicted words are assumed to be divided according to the character input mode. That is, in the hiragana input mode and the katakana input mode, a list of common prediction words for the Japanese input mode is used. That is, predicted words for the Japanese input mode include characters in hiragana notation, kanji notation, and katakana notation. In the case of the uppercase input mode and the lowercase input mode, a list of common prediction words for the alphabet input mode is used. That is, the predicted words for the alphabet input mode include uppercase letters and lowercase letters.

  The character display unit 204 is a display unit that displays characters input using the character input key 201 and the predicted word display unit 203. For example, when the user selects the character input key 201 “a” in the hiragana input mode, the character “a” is input, and the character “a” is displayed on the character display unit 204. Further, for example, when the user selects the character string “ASU” displayed on the predicted word display unit 203, the character string “ASU” is input, and the character display unit 204 displays the character string “ASU”. Is done.

  The confirmation key 205 is a key used to confirm the character input using the character input key 201. For example, when the user inputs the character string “ASU” using the character input key 201, the character is not yet confirmed until the confirmation key 205 is selected. When the user selects the confirmation key 205, the character string “ASU” is confirmed.

  The conversion key 206 is a key used to convert an unconfirmed character displayed on the character display unit 204. For example, when the user inputs the character string “ASA” using the character input key 201 and selects the conversion key 206 in an unconfirmed state, the converted candidate characters such as “morning” and “hemp” are displayed. Is displayed on the character display unit 204. For example, when the user selects the confirmation key 205 in a state converted to “morning”, the character string “morning” is confirmed.

<Functional configuration of information processing apparatus>
Next, the functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 100 includes a display unit 111 that displays various images, an operation detection unit 112 that detects a contact operation by a user, and an operation determination unit 113 that determines the type of the contact operation. In addition, the information processing apparatus 100 includes a predicted word storage unit 114 that stores a predicted word, a process execution unit 115 that executes a process according to the contact operation, and a display control unit 116 that controls the display content of the display unit 111. Prepare.

  The display unit 111 displays various images such as a software keyboard in accordance with a control signal transmitted from the display control unit 116.

  The operation detection unit 112 detects a contact operation by the user on the display unit 111 and outputs the detected contact operation to the operation determination unit 113. Here, the operation detection unit 112 considers an orthogonal coordinate system in the display unit 111, and when the user's finger touches the display unit 111, the operation detection unit 112 detects the coordinates of the touched point and outputs it to the operation determination unit 113. In other words, the operation detection unit 112 detects the contact operation with respect to the operation determination unit 113 while the contact operation is performed, and the position information on the display unit 111 where the contact is performed ( Coordinate).

  The operation determination unit 113 determines the type of contact operation detected by the operation detection unit 112 based on the information received from the operation detection unit 112. Then, the operation determination unit 113 outputs the type of the determined contact operation and the position information on the display unit 111 where the contact is performed to the process execution unit 115. Here, when the operation determination unit 113 is notified from the operation detection unit 112 that the contact operation has been detected, the operation determination unit 113 determines the type of the contact operation based on the position information on the display unit 111 where the contact is being performed. To do. For example, “tap”, “drag”, “flick”, and the like exist as the contact operation to be discriminated. “Tap” is an operation in which a user's finger touches the screen. “Drag” is an operation in which the user moves the finger as it is with the finger touching the screen. “Flick” is an operation in which a user releases a finger while touching the screen. For example, when the user touches the “a” character input key 201 of the software keyboard 200 displayed on the display unit 111, the operation determination unit 113 determines that a tap operation has been performed using the “a” character input key 201. To do.

  4A to 4D are diagrams for explaining an example of the flick operation by the user. 4A to 4D show coordinate axes of the x axis and the y axis as coordinate systems set in the display unit 111. FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 4A, the operation determination unit 113 slides the position where the contact is made by flipping upward on the software keyboard 200 as indicated by the arrow (the positive direction of the y axis). When a contact operation is received from the operation detection unit 112, it is determined that an upward flick operation (hereinafter referred to as an upper flick) has been performed at the position where the contact has been made. Similarly, as illustrated in FIGS. 4B to 4D, the operation determination unit 113 receives a contact operation from the operation detection unit 112 such that the position where the contact is performed is slid by flipping in the arrow direction. , Flick operation in the down direction (negative direction of the y-axis), flick operation in the right direction (positive direction of the x-axis), flick operation in the left direction (negative direction of the x-axis) (hereinafter, respectively, the lower flick and the right) Flick and left flick) are performed.

  The predicted word storage unit 114 stores a list of predicted words predicted from characters input by the user. As described above, the list of predicted words is stored, for example, as a dictionary that defines the priority of prediction candidates. When the predicted word is presented based on the user's past input history, the predicted word list is updated according to the user's input.

  The process execution unit 115 executes a process according to the contact operation based on the contact operation notified from the operation determination unit 113 and the position information on the contact. Here, when a flick operation is performed with the character input key 201, the process execution unit 115 temporarily changes the character input mode, and performs processing assuming that a character is input in the changed character input mode. Do. In addition, the process execution unit 115 acquires a predicted word list corresponding to the character input mode after the change from the predicted word storage unit 114, and predicts the type determined in the character input mode after the change when the predicted word is displayed. The display control unit 116 is notified so that the word is displayed with priority.

  For example, the character input modes corresponding to the upper flick, the lower flick, the right flick, and the left flick are predetermined as a hiragana input mode, a katakana input mode, an uppercase input mode, and a lowercase input mode, respectively. Then, for example, when the operation determination unit 113 notifies that the upper flick has been performed with the character input key 201 of “a”, the process execution unit 115 is not limited to the currently set character input mode. Temporarily change to hiragana input mode. Further, the process execution unit 115 displays the character “a” on the character display unit 204, assuming that the character corresponding to the character input key 201 “f” for which the upper flick has been performed is input in the hiragana input mode. As such, the display control unit 116 is notified. At that time, the process execution unit 115 acquires a predicted word list for the Japanese input mode related to “a” from the predicted word storage unit 114. Then, the process execution unit 115 increases the priority of the predicted words in hiragana and kanji notation in the acquired predicted word list, and lowers the priority of the predicted words in katakana notation to display on the predicted word display unit 203. The display control unit 116 is notified.

  In addition, when the processing execution unit 115 temporarily changes to the katakana input mode by flicking down, when displaying the predicted word, the process execution unit 115 increases the priority of the predicted word in katakana notation and prioritizes the predicted word in hiragana and kanji notation. Perform processing to display at a reduced degree. In addition, when the processing execution unit 115 temporarily changes to uppercase input mode by right-flicking, when displaying the predicted word, the process execution unit 115 increases the priority of the predicted word in uppercase notation and sets the priority of the predicted word in lowercase notation. Perform the process of lowering the display. Further, when the processing execution unit 115 is changed to the lower case input mode by left flicking, when displaying the predicted word, the priority of the predicted word in the lower case notation is increased, and the priority of the predicted word in the upper case notation is decreased and displayed. Perform the process. In the present embodiment, a flick operation is used as an example of a predetermined operation on a character key.

  Further, for example, when the operation execution unit 115 is notified that the tap operation has been performed with the character input key 201 of “a” from the operation determination unit 113, the character input key 201 of “a” is input. Process as a thing. Here, for example, if the character input mode is set to the capital letter input mode, the process execution unit 115 notifies the display control unit 116 to display the character “A”. For example, if the character input mode is set to the hiragana input mode, the process execution unit 115 notifies the display control unit 116 to display the character “a”.

  The display control unit 116 generates a control signal for controlling the display on the display unit 111 and controls the display content of the display unit 111. Here, the display control unit 116 generates a control signal including the content to be displayed on the display unit 111 based on the processing content received from the processing execution unit 115.

  Specifically, in the information processing apparatus 100, the functions of the operation determination unit 113, the process execution unit 115, and the display control unit 116 in the present embodiment are realized by instructions issued by the CPU 101. The display unit 111 and the operation detection unit 112 are realized by the display mechanism 105, for example. Further, the predicted word storage unit 114 is realized by the storage device 104, for example. Note that the configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 is merely an example, and unnecessary functional units may be deleted, new functional units may be added, and the configuration and arrangement of each unit may be changed. In the present embodiment, the operation detection unit 112 is used as an example of a reception unit. The process execution unit 115 is used as an example of a display unit and a change unit, and the display control unit 116 is used as an example of a display unit.

<Explanation of processing procedure when flicking is performed during character input>
Next, a processing procedure when the user performs a flick operation when inputting characters will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure when a flick operation is performed during character input. Here, it is assumed that the lowercase character input mode is set as the character input mode in the initial state.

  First, the operation detection part 112 detects the contact operation by the user on the display part 111 (step 101). Here, the operation detection unit 112 outputs the coordinates of the point touched on the display unit 111 to the operation determination unit 113. Next, the operation determination unit 113 determines the type of the contact operation detected by the operation detection unit 112 based on the position information received from the operation detection unit 112 (step 102). Then, the operation determination unit 113 outputs the determined type of contact operation and position information on the display unit 111 where the contact is made to the process execution unit 115.

  Next, the process execution unit 115 determines whether or not the contact operation notified from the operation determination unit 113 is a flick operation with the character input key 201 (step 103). If it is determined that the operation is not the operation using the character input key 201, or if it is determined that the operation is the flick operation even if the operation is performed using the character input key 201 (No in step 103), this processing flow ends. In this case, for example, if a tap operation or a drag operation is performed with the character input key 201, the process execution unit 115 executes a process according to such a contact operation.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the character input key 201 is a flick operation (Yes in Step 103), the process execution unit 115 temporarily changes the character input mode in accordance with the executed flick operation (Step S103). 104). For example, when the user performs a downward flick operation using the character input key 201, the process execution unit 115 temporarily changes the character input mode from the currently set lowercase input mode to the katakana input mode. For example, when the user performs a right flick operation with the character input key 201, the process execution unit 115 temporarily changes the character input mode from the currently set lowercase input mode to the uppercase input mode. To do.

  Next, the process execution unit 115 acquires a predicted word list corresponding to the changed character input mode from the predicted word storage unit 114 (step 105). Here, for example, when the process execution unit 115 temporarily changes to the katakana input mode, the process execution unit 115 acquires a predicted word list for the Japanese input mode related to “a” from the predicted word storage unit 114. For example, when the processing execution unit 115 temporarily changes to the uppercase input mode, the processing execution unit 115 acquires a predicted word list for the alphabet input mode related to “A” from the predicted word storage unit 114.

  Next, the process execution unit 115 displays the character selected by the flick operation and raises the priority of the type of predicted word determined in the changed character input mode for the acquired predicted word list. The display control unit 116 is notified so as to display (step 106). And the display control part 116 displays the character input into the character display part 204 of the display part 111 based on the information of the character of the display object notified from the process execution part 115, and the information of a prediction word list, A list of predicted words is displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 of the display unit 111 (step 107). Then, this processing flow ends.

  In addition, after the character input mode is temporarily changed, the character input mode after the change is changed until the user selects the confirmation key 205 to confirm the unconfirmed character string or until the user selects the predicted word. Will continue. That is, when the user continues to perform a tap operation with the character input key 201 after the character input mode is changed, characters are input in the character input mode after the change. Then, the display control unit 116 displays the input characters on the character display unit 204.

  For example, when the user performs a flick operation with the character input key 201 of “a” to temporarily change to the katakana input mode, “a” is displayed on the character display unit 204 and “a” is displayed. Predicted words starting from are preferentially displayed on the predicted word display unit 203. Next, for example, when the user performs a tap operation with the character input key 201 of “i”, “eye” is displayed on the character display unit 204 and a predicted word starting from “eye” is preferentially displayed. It is displayed on the predicted word display unit 203. For example, when the user selects an “icon” of the displayed predicted word, an “icon” is displayed on the character display unit 204 instead of “eye”. In addition, when the predicted word is selected, the character input mode returns from the temporarily changed Katakana input mode to the originally set lowercase character input mode. Therefore, when the user subsequently performs a tap operation with the character input key 201, a character is input in the lowercase character input mode.

<Specific example of processing when flicking is performed during character input>
Next, processing when the user performs a flick operation when inputting characters will be described with a specific example. FIGS. 6A to 6D are diagrams for explaining an example of processing when the user performs a flick operation when inputting characters. Here, it is assumed that the lowercase character input mode is set as the character input mode in the initial state. The user inputs a character in the lower case input mode before performing the flick operation, and after confirming the input character, the user temporarily changes the character input mode by the flick operation and inputs a new character. And The following steps correspond to the steps in FIG.

  First, in the lowercase character input mode, the user inputs “user” by a tap operation and selects the confirmation key 205 to confirm the input character. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6A, the display control unit 116 displays “user” on the character display unit 204 of the display unit 111. Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the user flicks down with the character input key 201 of “a”, the operation detection unit 112 detects a contact operation by the user on the display unit 111. (Step 101). Here, the operation detection unit 112 determines the coordinates of the point touched on the display unit 111, that is, the coordinates of the point touched by performing a flick with the character input key 201 of “a”. It outputs to 113.

  Next, the operation determination unit 113 determines the type of the contact operation detected by the operation detection unit 112 based on the position information received from the operation detection unit 112 (step 102). Here, the operation determination unit 113 determines that the contact operation is a downward flick, and outputs to the process execution unit 115 that the downward flick has been performed with the character input key 201 of “a”.

  Next, the process execution unit 115 determines that the contact operation notified from the operation determination unit is a flick operation (Yes in Step 103), and temporarily sets the character input mode in accordance with the executed lower flick operation. Change (step 104). Here, since the input mode corresponding to the lower flick operation is the katakana input mode, the process execution unit 115 temporarily changes from the currently set lowercase character input mode to the katakana input mode.

  Next, the process execution part 115 acquires the prediction word list corresponding to the changed katakana input mode from the prediction word memory | storage part 114 (step 105). Here, the process execution unit 115 obtains a list of predicted words related to the Katakana “a” input using the character input key 201 “a”. Next, the process execution unit 115 notifies the display control unit 116 to display “A”, which is the character selected by the flick operation (step 106). In addition, the process execution unit 115 notifies the display control unit 116 to display the acquired predicted word list with an increased priority of the predicted word in katakana notation related to “a”.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6B, the display control unit 116 newly displays the character “a” at the position where the character input cursor is arranged in the character display unit 204 of the display unit 111 ( Step 107). In addition, the display control unit 116 displays on the predicted word display unit 203 a predicted word list in which the priority of the predicted word in katakana notation related to “a” is increased. For example, the predicted word list of “A” and “A” usually has a high priority for character strings such as “ASU”, “You”, “Ashita”, “Tomorrow”, and is displayed on the predicted word display unit 203. Is done. On the other hand, when the user performs a downward flick operation with the character input key 201 of “a”, the priority of character strings such as “eye”, “icon”, “idea”, and “item” in katakana notation Is displayed on the predicted word display unit 203.

  When the user subsequently performs a tap operation with the character input key 201 for “k”, the character “k” is input in the katakana input mode, which is the character input mode after the change. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6C, the display control unit 116 displays the character “k” next to the character “a”. Further, the display control unit 116 displays character strings that may be input using the character input keys 201 of “a” and “k” as the predicted word list. That is, in the predicted word display unit 203, predicted words starting with “Aka”, “Aki”, “Ak”, “Ake”, “Ako” are displayed at the top, such as “Account” and “Access”. The In addition, as characters that may be input using the character input key 201 of “k”, for example, “C”, “Kyu”, “Kyo”, and the like are also conceivable. Therefore, the display control unit 116 may display the predicted words starting with “acquis”, “accu”, and “acyo” at the top.

  When the user selects, for example, “account” from the list of predicted words, “account” is displayed on the character display unit 204 instead of “ac” as shown in FIG. . The character input mode returns from the katakana input mode to the lowercase input mode before the change.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the user performs a flick operation with the character input key 201, the information processing apparatus 100 temporarily changes to the character input mode corresponding to the executed flick operation. At that time, the information processing apparatus 100 displays the type of predicted word determined in the temporarily changed character input mode with a higher priority. By changing the priority of the predicted word, the possibility that the character string desired by the user is displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 is increased. Further, even when the character string desired by the user is not displayed on the predicted word display unit 203, the possibility that the character string desired by the user is displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 by a small scroll operation is increased. That is, the character input mode is changed by one flick operation, and the predicted words of the type determined in the changed character input mode are preferentially displayed. Operation is reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the flick operation is used as an operation for temporarily changing the character input mode. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. Any operation may be used as long as it can be determined as an operation corresponding to each character input mode. For example, the information processing apparatus 100 may temporarily change to any one of the character input modes depending on the number of tap operations performed within a predetermined time such as one second. In addition, the information processing apparatus 100 changes the character input mode by, for example, a pinch-in operation in which the user places two fingers on the screen to narrow the space between the fingers and a pinch-out operation in which the space between the two fingers is expanded. Also good. In this case, for example, the input mode is temporarily changed based on the direction in which the pinch-in operation or the pinch-out operation is performed. Further, for example, the information processing apparatus 100 temporarily enters one of the character input modes based on the size of the contact area on the screen and the length of the contact time when the user taps the character input key 201. It may be changed.

  In this embodiment, a software keyboard is used. However, a general keyboard as an input device may be used. In this case, instead of the flick operation, for example, based on the number of times the keyboard key is pressed within a predetermined time, the length of time the key is pressed, etc. Changed to

<Another Example 1 for Reducing User Operations>
Next, another embodiment 1 for reducing the operation when the user performs character input will be described. In the first embodiment, when a character string that is not likely to become a hiragana character is input in the hiragana mode, the information processing apparatus 100 predicts an unconfirmed character string that has been input up to that point in English. Display words preferentially.

  For example, when “t”, “e”, “s”, and “t” are sequentially input in the hiragana mode, the input uncertain character string is “te st”. Here, “s” input third is a Japanese consonant, and “t” input fourth is also a consonant, so that the third “s” part is a hiragana character. Absent. In such a case, the process execution unit 115 determines that there is no possibility that the input character string “te st” becomes a hiragana character, and calculates a predicted word related to “test” in which “te st” is all English characters. The display control unit 116 is notified so that it is displayed at the top. For example, “test”, “tester”, “test flight”, and the like are displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 as the predicted words.

  In addition, the present embodiment is not limited to the case where characters are input in the hiragana mode, but may be applied to the case where characters are input in the katakana input mode. In this case, when “t”, “e”, “s”, and “t” are sequentially input in the katakana input mode, the input undetermined character string is “test”. Then, the process execution unit 115 determines that there is no possibility that the input character string “test” is a katakana character, and displays the predicted word related to “test” in which “test” is all English characters at the top. As such, the display control unit 116 is notified.

  In this way, when a character string that is not likely to be a hiragana character or a katakana character is input in the Japanese input mode, the information processing apparatus 100 calculates a predicted word related to an input character string that is all English characters. Display with priority. Therefore, for example, when the user wants to input an alphabetic character, even if the character is input as it is without switching from the Japanese input mode to the alphabetic input mode, the input character is deleted and the alphabet input mode is entered again. You do not have to enter characters. According to the first embodiment, based on the characters input in the Japanese input mode, the predicted English word is displayed without performing any unusual key operation, and the user can input characters. The operation when performing is reduced.

<Other Embodiment 2 for Reducing User Operations>
Further, another embodiment 2 for reducing the operation when the user performs character input will be described. In the second embodiment, the information processing apparatus 100 is configured to input characters when the number of characters equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold is input in the alphabet input mode and the input uncertain character string can be expressed in hiragana. Predictive words related to the column expressed in Hiragana are displayed preferentially.

  For example, when “a”, “k”, “a”, “s”, “a”, “k”, “a” are sequentially input in the alphabet input mode, the input characters are “akasaka”. It becomes. “Akasaka” can be expressed as “akasaka” in the hiragana mode. Here, if the predetermined threshold value is “7”, for example, “akasaka” is 7 characters, and therefore, the number of characters equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value has been input. Therefore, the process execution unit 115 determines that the input character string having a number of characters equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold is input in the English character input mode, and the input undefined character string can be expressed in hiragana. Then, the process execution unit 115 performs display control so that a predicted word related to the input character string expressed in hiragana (or “akasaka” when the input character is “akasaka”) is displayed at the top. Notification to the unit 116. For example, “Akasaka”, “Akasaka”, and the like are displayed on the predicted word display unit 203 as predicted words.

  In this way, the information processing apparatus 100, when characters having a number of characters greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value are input in the alphabet input mode and the input uncertain character string is expressed in hiragana, is expressed in hiragana Predictive words are displayed preferentially. Therefore, for example, when the user wants to input hiragana, kanji or katakana, but does not switch from the English input mode to the Japanese input mode, he / she enters the characters as they are and erases the input characters again. It is not necessary to input characters in Japanese input mode. According to the second embodiment, a predicted word in hiragana, kanji or katakana notation is displayed on the basis of characters input in the alphabet input mode without performing any unusual key operation. The operation when the user inputs characters is reduced.

  In this embodiment, a keyboard having a QWERTY layout is used. However, the keyboard is not limited to the QWERTY layout, and a keyboard having another layout may be used. The character input keys 201 on the keyboard are not limited to alphabets. For example, one character input key 201 may correspond to alphabets, hiragana and katakana, and may switch which character is input according to the character input mode. In this case, for example, when the user selects a certain character input key 201, hiragana is input in the hiragana mode, and katakana is input in the katakana input mode. In the lowercase input mode, lowercase letters are input, and in uppercase input mode, uppercase letters are input.

  Although the present invention has been described using the embodiment, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternative embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Information processing apparatus, 111 ... Display part, 112 ... Operation detection part, 113 ... Operation discrimination | determination part, 114 ... Predictive word memory | storage part, 115 ... Processing execution part, 116 ... Display control part, 200 ... Software keyboard, 201 ... Character Input key 202 ... Mode switching key 203 ... Predicted word display section 204 ... Character display section 205 ... Confirmation key 206 ... Conversion key

Claims (7)

Accepting means for accepting an operation on a character key used for inputting characters;
An input rule for determining the type of character input by the operation on the character key is associated with a predetermined operation on the character key, and the predetermined operation is performed by the user. In this case, the type of character determined by the input rule is accepted, and the predicted word of the type determined by the input rule is preferentially displayed on the screen among the predicted words predicted from the received character. An information processing apparatus comprising display means for displaying. When the predetermined operation is performed by the user, the information processing apparatus further includes a changing unit that changes the input rule set at that time to the input rule associated with the predetermined operation. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. As the input rules, there are a first input rule that determines the type of input characters as Hiragana, and a second input rule that determines the type of input characters as Katakana,
When the predetermined operation associated with the first input rule is performed, the display unit accepts a hiragana character assigned to the operated character key, and from the received character The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a predicted word represented in hiragana or kanji is preferentially displayed on the screen among predicted words to be predicted. As the input rules, there are a third input rule for determining the type of characters to be input as lowercase letters and a fourth input rule for determining the type of characters to be input as uppercase letters,
When the predetermined operation associated with the third input rule is performed, the display means accepts a lower case letter of the alphabet assigned to the operated character key, and from the received lower case letter 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, among the predicted words to be predicted, a predicted word represented by a lowercase letter is preferentially displayed on the screen. 5. The display means is configured such that when the first input rule or the second input rule is set and a character string that is not represented by a kana is input by an operation on the character key, the input character string is displayed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an English character is preferentially displayed on the screen as the predicted word. In the display means, the third input rule or the fourth input rule is set, and the number of characters of the character string input by operating the character key is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the input character string can be expressed in kana, the input character string in kana is preferentially displayed on the screen as the predicted word. The information processing apparatus described. On the computer,
A function that accepts operations on the character keys used to input characters;
An input rule for determining the type of character input by the operation on the character key is associated with a predetermined operation on the character key, and the predetermined operation is performed by the user. In this case, the type of character determined by the input rule is accepted, and the predicted word of the type determined by the input rule is preferentially displayed on the screen among the predicted words predicted from the received character. A program for realizing the display function.

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