JP2017120608A - Input interface control system, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an interface which can display or hide all of a numeric-keypad and a desired function key by simple gesture operation on a device.SOLUTION: In using an accounting/tax processing system or an application program remotely, a virtual keyboard with character input keys, a numeric keypad, and function keys is configured. A virtual keyboard larger than a touch panel screen of a device is partially displayed on a screen, and a user performs gesture operation to slide the virtual keyboard laterally by a predetermined amount or more, to display a hidden part to the end. The function keys arranged at the top of the keyboard are displayed/hidden by vertical slide gesture operation of the user, to display a wider screen when the keys are unnecessary. A virtual mouse is displayed to facilitate fine pointer operation or lateral click operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an input interface control system, method, and program for improving usability of character input and pointer operation in a touch-sensitive smart device, and particularly suitable for remote use of accounting and tax processing systems and application programs. The present invention relates to a system, method, and program for providing a user interface.

  In recent years, smart devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs are frequently used. Such a smart device does not have a physical keyboard, and is configured to display a software keyboard or a virtual keyboard (hereinafter collectively referred to as a “virtual keyboard”) on a touch panel to input characters and numbers. ing. In general, a smart device is miniaturized so as to be convenient for carrying, and therefore, a virtual keyboard displayed on a touch panel screen is also smaller than a normal physical keyboard. For this reason, generally, a virtual keyboard uses a key layout that is simplified from that of a normal keyboard, such as eliminating the numeric keypad.

  In order to improve the visibility of the virtual keyboard displayed on a small terminal, only a partial area of the virtual keyboard larger than the display screen is displayed on the screen, and the desired area is displayed by scroll operation so that the key area to be input can be selected. A terminal device has been proposed (Patent Document 1). The screen of this device is not a touch panel, the virtual keyboard is scrolled by moving the terminal device having the acceleration sensor up and down, left and right, and when the highlight display moves to the key area of the character to be input, when the physical OK button is pressed, The key value is captured.

  In addition, remote desktop technology for operating the GUI and desktop environment of another computer connected via a network from such a smart device is used. For example, the user can use the resources of the workplace computer as they are at the terminal at hand by synchronizing with the desktop screen of the workplace personal computer using the smart device. Using this technology, for example, employees of an accounting firm or tax accountant office (hereinafter simply referred to as an accounting firm) go to an advisory company with a smart device, and remotely connect to an accounting firm's computer system there. This makes it possible to work with various slip data.

JP 2003-316502 A

  For example, when a terminal is used for accounting purposes, it is desirable to be able to use a numeric keypad in addition to the normal key layout. In addition, fixed journals, automatic summaries, ledger display, tabulation, journal entries, credit fixed, debit fixed It is desirable that a plurality of function keys specialized for accounting processing can be used to execute functions such as. However, if these key arrangements are included in the virtual keyboard, there is a problem that they cannot fit on the screen of the smart device and / or occupy much of the screen and the original screen cannot be seen. In particular, when using accounting, tax processing systems and application programs, it is effective to use a numeric keypad to enter the date and amount, in addition to entering characters such as a summary. It is convenient to perform input using various functions by assigning "total" and "standard journal". In such a case, it is preferable to be able to use a keyboard (hereinafter referred to as “financial keyboard”) that can simultaneously use all of the character input keys, numeric keys, and function keys as a virtual keyboard. The configuration of the keyboard becomes considerably large, and it becomes difficult to display the keyboard as it is on a relatively small display screen of the portable smart device. In this case, it is conceivable that the character input key, the numeric keypad, and the function key are switched by button operation. However, it is inconvenient to switch and input one by one because unnecessary operations increase.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems. In particular, in the case of using an accounting, tax processing system or application program in a remote environment, a financial keyboard is configured and a simple operation on a smart device is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide an interface that can be moved to a numeric keypad by a simple gesture operation and can be switched between display / non-display of a desired function key.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides an interface control system for a device having a touch panel screen, and configures a virtual keyboard including a predetermined key arrangement on the touch panel screen, and is predetermined within a display area of the virtual keyboard. When a predetermined number of slide gestures are detected, the virtual keyboard is moved so that all of the predetermined key arrangement corresponding to the direction of the slide gesture is displayed, or the entire predetermined key arrangement is displayed / not displayed. The display is performed.

  The interface control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a general-purpose keyboard portion having a size that allows the virtual keyboard to fit on the touch panel screen, and a numeric keypad portion that is outside the right or left screen when the general-purpose keyboard portion is displayed. When a left and right sliding operation of a predetermined amount or more is detected on the virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard is slid to the end in the direction corresponding to the user operation on the screen.

  In the interface control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, when the virtual keyboard has a plurality of function keys on the upper part and a vertical slide operation of a predetermined amount or more is detected on the virtual keyboard, the plurality of functions are Displays / hides keys.

  The interface control system according to the third embodiment displays on the touch panel screen a virtual mouse tool including a mouse body and a cursor pointer that holds a predetermined position with respect to the mouse body. The virtual click button and the virtual wheel are provided. When the drag operation of the mouse body is detected, the entire virtual mouse tool is moved, and when the tap operation of the virtual click button is detected, the click at the tip of the cursor pointer is clicked. A process is performed, and a scroll process is performed when a slide operation on the virtual wheel is detected.

  In this case, when the drag operation of the mouse body to the edge of the screen area where the tip of the cursor pointer cannot move due to the relative position of the mouse body and the cursor pointer, the display content of the touch panel screen is moved to the opposite side. It is effective to enable selection operation of the screen area by relative movement.

  An interface control system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention includes a general-purpose keyboard portion having a size that allows the virtual keyboard to fit on the touch panel screen, and a numeric keypad portion that is outside the right or left screen when the general-purpose keyboard portion is displayed. The virtual keyboard is slid so that the numeric keypad portion is entirely displayed in the screen when the cursor is moved or selected to an input field that requires a numeric input in a predetermined application.

  In the interface control system according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the virtual keyboard has a plurality of function keys that are normally hidden on the upper part, and selects whether the cursor is moved to a predetermined input field of a predetermined application. If so, the plurality of function keys are displayed. In addition, the type of the application item column is registered and managed in the form of a table in association with the screen configuration information (screen configuration position information, etc.) prepared for each application, and the position of the cursor such as the mouse is It is acquired by detecting whether it falls within the range of a predetermined item column.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, a virtual keyboard having a numeric keypad is formed outside the screen of the smart device, and the user wishes to use the numeric keypad when there is a left / right sliding operation of a predetermined amount or more or a predetermined speed or more. The virtual keyboard is slid so that it is completely displayed up to the end of the numeric keypad. The user can easily do this by sliding the numeric keypad to the end with a gesture of a predetermined amount or more or a predetermined speed, without performing a slide gesture to the end of the virtual keyboard or without performing an extremely fast slide operation. In addition, the numeric keypad and the normal keyboard body can be used properly. In particular, when the threshold value for the left / right sliding operation of a predetermined amount or more or a predetermined speed or more is set to be small, it is possible to quickly automatically scroll to the numeric keypad portion, so that usability is improved.

  According to the second embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of function keys mounted on the upper part of the keyboard are displayed / hidden by switching up and down by a predetermined amount or more, thereby enabling the function keys to be easily operated as described above. It can be used and the screen can be made wider when function keys are not needed.

  According to the third embodiment of the present invention, a virtual mouse tool linked with a pointer (for example, arrow-shaped) whose position can be specified in fine units is displayed and operated, so that the touch panel screen is operated with a finger. Finer pointer operations, left and right clicks, and scroll operations become easier. At this time, for the screen area where the cursor pointer cannot be moved to the edge of the screen due to the positional relationship between the mouse body and the cursor pointer, when the mouse tool is moved to the edge of the screen area, the screen contents move to the opposite side and all the screen area Allow selection of a range. As a result, the entire area of the touch panel screen can be designated in dot units with pointers at different positions linked to the place where the finger is operated, and the usability of the smart device is improved.

  In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a virtual keyboard having a numeric keypad is configured outside the screen of the smart device, and when a date or amount input field is selected or the cursor moves within the input field in a predetermined application. The user determines that he / she wants to use the numeric keypad, and slides the virtual keyboard so that the entire display is displayed up to the end of the numeric keypad. Even if the slide gesture is not performed to the end of the virtual keyboard, the numeric keypad is automatically slid to the end, so that the user can easily use the numeric keypad and the normal keyboard main body properly.

  According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of function keys mounted on the upper part of the keyboard are switched between display / non-display according to the presence / absence of a cursor on a predetermined column of the application, and the function can be performed with the simple operation as described above. Keys can be used and the screen can be made wider when function keys are not required.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment using the interface control system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the main apparatus in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration and functions of the connection destination terminal 10 and the connection source terminal (smart device) 20 in more detail. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen configuration after the application of the connection source terminal 20 is started. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of keyboard types that can be used in the connection source terminal 20. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the input interface control method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the operation interface of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an operation interface according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an operation interface according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the control in the case of pointing the lower right area of the screen in the embodiment of FIG.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The form for implementing this invention is demonstrated in detail below, referring an accompanying drawing. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an accounting processing system using the interface control system of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as an example, a touch panel type smart device 20 is used to remotely connect to a remote connection destination computer system, which is a computer for finance / accounting or tax processing of an accounting office or company, and use the resources for the accounting processing About the system. The embodiment of FIG. 1A is an operation system in which a dedicated server 30 manages remote desktop authentication and connection, and the embodiment of FIG. 1B is a secure connection using VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology. This is a remote desktop operation system that ensures security. The remote connection destination has a substantive computer terminal 10 under the server 11 and is connected to the Internet via a firewall 13. The connection source terminal 20 is a smart device such as a portable smartphone or tablet PC, and is an information communication terminal that accepts input via a touch panel display. The authentication / connection management server 30 is a server that manages mutual authentication of remote desktops and exchange of information. The authentication / connection management server 30 may be configured to constantly mediate exchanges between the remote connection destination and the connection source terminal 20, or the first connection authentication. It may mediate only. 1 includes the server 11 and the firewall 13 individually. However, if the connection destination terminal 10 itself has an authentication function and a firewall function, the connection destination terminal 10 directly connects to the Internet. You may make it (stand-alone configuration).

  Remote desktop technology is a thin client method that transmits screen information to the connection source terminal for display, accepts input information from the connection source terminal, and achieves remote operation by the connection destination system performing the actual processing. Since it is a publicly known technique, a detailed description is omitted.

  Further, the remote connection destination terminal may be a substantial computer terminal 10 or a virtual terminal that is realized by a partial function of the server 11, for example. More specifically, the virtual terminal stores the OS and application software in a part of the HDD or SSD in the server, expands the software on the memory, and is realized by processor processing. This means a virtual terminal that is different from the actual terminal but can execute the same processing as the actual terminal. The virtual terminal does not necessarily have a display screen and input means, and receives computer access from the connection source terminal 20 to execute computer calculation processing and send information on the output screen to the connection source terminal 20. The screen information of the connection destination terminal 10 is sent to the connection source terminal 20, but after sending the initial screen, only the difference information may be sent to avoid network traffic congestion. Note that the input interface of the present invention is not limited to use in remote access in the network configuration as described above, and can also be applied to use of application programs installed in smart devices.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the main apparatus in FIG. 2A shows the schematic configuration of the remote connection destination terminal 10, FIG. 2B shows the server 11, and FIG. 2C shows the schematic configuration of the connection source terminal 20. The remote connection destination terminal 10 is a general desktop or notebook computer, and includes an input unit 121 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output unit 122 such as a display and a speaker, a storage unit 123 such as a hard disk and a memory, and a CPU. Etc., and a communication unit 125 for connecting to the Internet. The server 11 includes a storage unit 111, a control unit 112, and a communication unit 113, and the input / output unit is not necessarily an essential configuration. The connection source terminal 20 includes a touch panel type input / output unit 21 including an output unit (display unit) such as a liquid crystal display and a touch type input unit, a storage unit 22, a control unit 23, and a communication unit 24. Yeah. As a touch panel system, various types such as a pressure sensitive system and an electrostatic system can be selected.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configurations and functions of the connection destination terminal 10 and the connection source terminal 20 in more detail. In the following description, the connection destination terminal 10 is described as being a substantial computer terminal 10, but as described above, the connection destination terminal may be a virtual terminal that is a part of the function of the server 11 or the like. The connection destination terminal 10 that is remotely operated includes an input unit 121 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an OS (operating system) unit 102 that controls the operation of the entire terminal, and an application interface control unit 103 that provides an interface between the OS and individual applications. And an application execution unit 104 for executing individual applications and an operated remote control unit 105 for controlling a remote desktop. The operated-side remote control unit 105 is an agent for operating the connection destination terminal 10 as the operated side of the remote desktop, and extracts screen data (or difference data) and sends it to the connection source terminal 20. An extraction unit 107 and an input emulation unit 108 that is passed to the OS unit 102 instead of the input unit 121 so that the input information from the connection source terminal 20 becomes input information from the input unit 121 of the connection destination terminal 10. Prepare.

  The connection source terminal (smart device) 20 for performing remote operation receives screen information from the touch panel 21 that is an input unit, the OS unit 26, the application interface control unit 27, and the connection destination terminal 10, and performs screen composition. The screen emulating unit 28 displayed on the touch panel display 21, the remote operation side remote control unit 29 that is an agent for realizing the remote desktop, and the interface control unit 25 that cooperates with the input unit 21 are provided. In the present embodiment, a dedicated application (hereinafter referred to as a dedicated application) for remote connection with the connection destination terminal 10 in the accounting office or company is installed, and when the user starts this dedicated application, the connection destination terminal 10. The remote desktop environment is constructed through the selection / confirmation and ID / password authentication, and various tax / accounting applications operating on the connection destination terminal 10 can be used.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen configuration after the dedicated application is started on the connection source terminal 20. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, a toolbar 31 is displayed at the top of the screen, and a keyboard icon 32 and a mouse icon 33 are included therein. The toolbar 31 may be always displayed, but is usually hidden and may be displayed by a tap operation or a slide operation on the upper part of the user's screen. When the user taps the keyboard icon 32, for example, a virtual keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen and keyboard input becomes possible. When the input field of the application being operated or the application being executed at the remote connection destination 10 is tapped or when the cursor is placed in the input field, the application or the remote control unit 29 automatically detects this. The keyboard may be displayed without waiting for the tap of the keyboard icon 32, or the numeric keypad 42 or the function key 43 may be used.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of keyboard types that can be used in the connection source terminal 20. The same applies to the keyboard when the application program of the smart device is used instead of the remote connection. In this embodiment, three types of virtual keyboards can be used on the connection source terminal 20, and it is possible to specify which virtual keyboard is used by specifying with a keyboard switching button (not shown). FIG. 5A is a standard keyboard with emphasis on character input convenient for mail creation and the like. FIG. 5B is a PC keyboard having a key layout used in a general desktop computer. FIG. Is a financial keyboard 40 specializing in finance / accounting or tax processing. As shown in FIG. 5 (c), the financial keyboard 40 includes a general keyboard main body 41 for inputting characters, a numeric keypad 42 designed to facilitate the input of money and date, A plurality of function keys 43 specialized for accounting or tax processing are provided. As shown in the figure, the financial keyboard designed for the accounting process has many input keys, and when all the keys are displayed on the screen of the small smart device terminal 20, each key becomes small and problems such as input mistakes frequently occur. Resulting in. Therefore, according to the present invention, only the keyboard main body 41 is displayed by default, and the numeric keypad 42 and the function key 43 can be used by a simple slide gesture operation. This will be described below with reference to a flowchart and a screen example.

  In addition to the numbers 0-9, the numeric keypad is a number key with multiple sets of 0, such as 00 and 000, which is particularly convenient for entering monetary amounts, a “.” Indicating a decimal point, an enter key, TAB, Examples include, but are not limited to, a “−” key indicating a minus and a scale key. Further, in the numeric keypad or separately from the numeric keypad, an arrow key for moving back and forth and right and left, a key for moving to the previous page and the next page, and the like may be configured. Alternatively, in addition to these keys, a key set of a calculator may be prepared instead of the numeric keypad or included in the numeric keypad. Alternatively, in addition to these keys, a calendar GUI (graphical user interface) for date input may be prepared instead of or together with the numeric keypad.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the input interface control method according to the embodiment of the present invention. For example, when the keyboard icon 32 in FIG. 4 is tapped and the financial keyboard is designated by the above method (step S1 in FIG. 6), the terminal 20 is the keyboard main body of the financial keyboard 40 shown in FIG. The portion 41 is displayed in the full screen width of the terminal 20. An example of this screen is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the keyboard main body 41 is displayed over the entire left and right screen width of the terminal 20, and the numeric keypad 42 conceptually protrudes to the right side of the screen. In this state, if there is a tap (key press) operation on the virtual keyboard (S3), the system accepts input of the key content corresponding to the tapped region (S4). That is, the corresponding key of the keyboard displayed on the screen is identified from the coordinates of the tapped location, and the processing is performed assuming that the contents are input. On the other hand, when there is a slide gesture of a predetermined amount or more on the virtual keyboard instead of a tap operation (S5), the system determines whether the slide gesture is a horizontal direction or a vertical direction (S6). The keyboard is slid to the end in the gesture direction (S7). That is, when a gesture operation to slide to the left on the keyboard area is detected from the state shown in FIG. 7A, the virtual keyboard 40 is slid to the left as shown in FIG. To be displayed. In this state, the user can perform a desired key input on the numeric keypad 42 (S3-S4). When you have finished using the numeric keypad and want to use a normal key layout (such as a character string portion), use the gesture operation in the opposite direction to hide the numeric keypad, Scroll so that the part is displayed.

  Further, if it is determined in step S6 that the gesture direction is the vertical direction (S6: N), display / non-display of the function key 43 on the upper part of the keyboard is switched according to the gesture direction (S8). An example of this screen is shown in FIG. FIG. 8A shows a default state in which the function keys 43 are displayed together with the keyboard main body 41, and the screen contents other than the keyboard are relatively small. From this state, if a gesture operation is performed by sliding downward on the virtual keyboard by a predetermined amount or more, the system determines that the function key display is not required, and the function key 43 is not displayed as shown in FIG. And In this state, the function keys cannot be used, but it is possible to increase the screen area other than the keyboard to make it easier to see. Further, when an upward slide gesture is performed on the virtual keyboard from this state, the function key 43 appears again (state shown in FIG. 8A), and the user can proceed with the accounting process using a desired function key. .

  Here, the slide gesture of “predetermined amount or more” is used, for example, in order to display the numeric keypad part 42, the user does not slide the entire width of the numeric keypad part 42, but a slide operation of a predetermined amount smaller than that. If there is, the system determines that the user wants to use the numeric keypad part 42, and slides the virtual keyboard to the end so that the numeric keypad part 42 can be used from the next moment. As a result, the user can quickly use the numeric keypad 42 and the function keys 43. Also, if the slide gesture is accepted on any part of the virtual keyboard 40, for example, it is easier to operate than a system that switches the display / non-display of the numeric keypad and function keys by pressing a button at a predetermined location. can do. The “predetermined amount” of the slide gesture may be a distance or an amount slid in a unit time, that is, a slide speed. Further, in a touch panel that can acquire the degree of strength of screen touch, the virtual keyboard is slid to the end if the value obtained by combining the strength of the user touching the screen with the distance and / or speed of sliding is a predetermined amount or more. It may be. The slide distance serving as the threshold value for the switching process may be a level that can be distinguished from the tap operation. For example, the physical distance can be set to 2 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 20 mm, or the like. Further, the user may arbitrarily set this distance. Further, when determining whether the sliding direction is the vertical direction or the horizontal direction (S6), for example, if it is 45 ° or less from the vertical axis of the screen, the vertical direction is determined, and if it is 45 ° or more, the horizontal direction is determined. Can do. However, the slide gestures in other directions may be ignored only by limiting to a predetermined range such as 30 ° front and back from the vertical axis or horizontal axis of the screen.

  Note that the “predetermined” amount or speed of the slide gesture for switching the display / non-display of the numeric keypad and function keys is a threshold value that is considerably smaller than that conventionally used for scroll control of smart device windows and virtual keyboards. For example, it may be determined that the numeric keypad portion is to be used when the slide amount exceeds 2 to 10 mm and the slide speed exceeds 1 to 3 cm per second. However, if the threshold value is set to a small value in this way, there may be a problem such as inadvertently scrolling automatically to the numeric keypad when using an application program (such as word processing software) other than accounting and tax application programs. The threshold of the slide gesture for displaying the numeric keypad to the end only during the use of a specific application program such as a tax application may be set to be small. As described above, the input interface of the present invention can be used even when using a normal application program. However, particularly when using a finance / accounting or tax application (system), the user interface is improved. be able to.

  When the keyboard input is completed in this way, or when the user wants to hide the keyboard even during the input, the keyboard icon shown in FIG. 4 is tapped again or a part other than the virtual keyboard area on the touch panel screen is tapped. When a predetermined operation is performed, for example, the system determines that the keyboard input mode is terminated (S9), and the entire virtual keyboard displayed on the touch panel screen is hidden (S10).

  In the above embodiment, the financial keyboard 40 (FIG. 5C) shown in FIG. 5 is described as an example, but the PC keyboard shown in FIG. 5B can also be controlled in the same manner. That is, the PC keyboard is displayed by default so that the numeric keypad and arrow keys on the right side of the keyboard are off the screen, and the virtual keyboard is slid to the left by a slide gesture so that these parts are displayed. In FIG. 5, the numeric keypad 42 is arranged on the right side mainly for the convenience of right-handed users, but this is because the numeric keypad 42 is arranged on the left side of the keyboard main body 41 for left-handed users. In addition, the arrangement of the numeric keypad may be switched between right and left according to user settings. In the present embodiment, the virtual keyboard and the numeric keypad are displayed at the same time for the numeric keypad. However, the numeric keypad may be switched to be displayed alone. When the numeric keypad portion is displayed during the scrolling operation, the portion may be displayed as an entire display (enlarged or reduced display so that the entire numeric keypad is not missing).

  In another embodiment, in addition to the above configuration, when a date or amount input field is tapped or the cursor moves on the input field when operating a predetermined application such as a financial / accounting application, the user can It may be determined that the use of the numeric keypad is desired, and the numeric keypad portion 42 may be displayed entirely. In this case, when the virtual keyboard 40 is already displayed on the screen, the virtual keyboard is slid so that all the numeric keypads 42 are displayed, and when the virtual keyboard 40 is not displayed on the screen, the numeric keypad portion is displayed. The virtual keyboard 40 appears on the screen so that all 42 are displayed.

  In still another embodiment, for example, in a financial / accounting application, when a function key such as a description or a subject entry field is used, a tap operation is performed on a predetermined input field or the cursor is moved. In addition, function keys may be displayed (if not displayed). Such processing includes screen configuration information (position of input field and content type to be filled in (for example, whether it is a number or a summary)) for each application and processing when selected for each input field. (Displaying the numeric keypad 42 or the function key 43) is registered in a table format, and the operation system or individual application can be realized by referring to the table according to the cursor position or tap operation. it can.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment relates to a virtual mouse tool that realizes fine control by displaying a pointer designated by a point on a portion that is not hidden by a finger in view of difficulty in fine touch control when a touch panel of a smart device is operated with a finger. For example, when the user taps the mouse icon 33 on the screen of the connection source terminal 20 shown in FIG. 4, a virtual mouse tool 50 as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the screen. The virtual mouse tool 50 includes a mouse main body 51 and a pointer 52 that holds a predetermined position with respect to the mouse main body 51, and the mouse main body 51 includes left and right click buttons 53 and a wheel 54. When the user drags (slides) the mouse main body 51 on the touch panel screen of the terminal 20, the mouse main body 51 and the cursor pointer 52 move while maintaining the relative positions, and further taps the left and right click buttons 53 or slides the wheel 54. Then, the same control as a physical mouse click button or scroll wheel is performed on the position coordinates of the pointer 52. The mouse main body 51, and thus the left and right click buttons 53 and the wheel buttons 54 have such a size that they can be reliably operated so as to avoid malfunctions caused by touching wrong places with the user's fingers. The positional relationship between the mouse body 51 and the pointer 52 is set so that the tip of the pointer 52 is not hidden when a finger is placed on the mouse body 51. When the input interface is controlled in this way, a fine point operation is difficult by a direct touch operation with a user's finger. However, the pointer 52 is moved to make a fine point operation, left and right click operations, and a wheel operation easy. Become. Note that the pointer 52 does not have to be an arrow shape, and another configuration such as an X mark or a sharpened corner of the mouse body may be adopted as long as one point can be designated.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, since the tip of the pointer 52 is positioned at the upper left of the mouse main body 51, there is a problem that the right and bottom end regions of the touch panel screen cannot be designated by the pointer 52. For this reason, in the virtual mouse tool of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10A, when it is detected that the virtual mouse tool 50 is dragged to a predetermined area at the right end and / or the lower end of the screen, As shown in FIG. 10B, the display content on the screen is relatively moved in the direction opposite to the drag direction so that the right end portion and / or the lower end portion of the screen can be pointed with the tip of the pointer 52. By controlling the virtual input interface in this way, the entire area of the screen can be designated and selected with high accuracy. In the present embodiment, the virtual mouse is described, but a virtual pen or other shape virtual pointing device may be used. Further, the virtual mouse tool 50 may be configured to be moved by an arrow key displayed on the screen or another virtual pointing device.

  As described above, the embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described in detail. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and examples, and the present invention is limited to the appended claims. Various modifications and changes can be realized without departing from the scope of the invention, and it should be understood that all such modifications and changes belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the connection to the connection destination terminal 10 and the input interface control are performed by the dedicated application of the smart device (connection source terminal) 20, but the scope of the present invention is the dedicated application and other terminals. The interface control of the present invention can be applied to many applications that use keyboard input, such as e-mail software on a smart device and a web browser, for example, without being limited to a remote connection system. In this case, an individual application such as an email or a web browser may perform the above-described control, or an operating system of the smart device may perform the control of the present invention. In the above description, the description has focused on smart devices. However, the present invention is also applicable to devices and devices with relatively small screen displays, such as FAX machines, copiers, and printers, or multi-function machines that integrate them. May be.

  The present invention can be used for devices such as touch panel portable smart devices and multifunction devices using keyboard input.

10 Remote connection destination terminal 105 Remote control unit 20 Remote connection source terminal (smart device)
29 Remote control unit 25 Interface control unit 30 Authentication / connection management server 31 Toolbar 32 Keyboard icon 33 Mouse icon 40 Financial keyboard 41 Keyboard main body 42 Numeric keypad 43 Function keys 50 Virtual mouse tool 51 Mouse main body 52 Pointer 53 Click button 54 Scroll wheel

Claims (18)

  An interface control system for a device having a touch panel screen, comprising a virtual keyboard including a predetermined key arrangement on the touch panel screen, and detecting a slide gesture of a predetermined amount or more in a display area of the virtual keyboard In this case, the system moves the virtual keyboard so that all the predetermined key arrangement corresponding to the direction of the slide gesture is displayed, or displays / hides the entire predetermined key arrangement. .   2. The interface control system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual keyboard includes a general-purpose keyboard portion of a size that fits on the touch panel screen, and a numeric keypad portion that is outside the right or left screen when the general-purpose keyboard portion is displayed. When a left and right sliding operation of a predetermined amount or more is detected on the virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard is slid to the end in the direction corresponding to the user operation on the screen.   3. The interface control system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual keyboard has a plurality of function keys on an upper portion thereof, and the plurality of function keys are displayed when a vertical slide operation of a predetermined amount or more is detected on the virtual keyboard. A system characterized by performing non-display.   4. The interface control system according to claim 1, wherein when an operation of selecting or pointing to a predetermined input field on a screen of a predetermined application is detected, a numeric keypad portion and / or a function of the virtual keyboard is detected. A system characterized by displaying keys.   5. The interface control system according to claim 1, wherein a virtual mouse tool including a mouse body and a cursor pointer that holds a predetermined position with respect to the mouse body is displayed on the touch panel screen. The mouse body includes one or more virtual click buttons and a virtual wheel. When the drag operation of the mouse body is detected, the entire virtual mouse tool is moved, and when the tap operation of the virtual click button is detected, the cursor is moved. A system that performs a click process at the tip of a pointer and performs a scroll process when a slide operation on the virtual wheel is detected.   6. The interface control system according to claim 5, wherein the touch panel screen is detected when a drag operation of the mouse body to an end of a screen area where the tip of the cursor pointer cannot move due to a relative position of the mouse body and the cursor pointer. The screen area can be selected by relatively moving the display content to the opposite side.   An interface control method for a device having a touch panel screen, wherein a virtual keyboard including a predetermined key arrangement on the touch panel screen is configured on the device, and a slide of a predetermined amount or more in a display area of the virtual keyboard When a gesture is detected, the virtual keyboard is moved so that all key arrangement portions corresponding to the direction of the slide gesture are displayed, or display / non-display processing of the entire predetermined key arrangement portion is executed. Feature method.   8. The interface control method according to claim 7, wherein the virtual keyboard includes a general-purpose keyboard portion having a size that fits on the touch panel screen, and a numeric keypad portion outside the right or left screen when the general-purpose keyboard portion is displayed. A method of causing the device to slide-display the virtual keyboard to the end in the direction corresponding to the user's operation in the screen when a left and right sliding operation of a predetermined amount or more is detected on the virtual keyboard. .   9. The interface control method according to claim 7, wherein the virtual keyboard has a plurality of function keys on an upper portion thereof, and when the device detects a vertical slide operation of a predetermined amount or more on the virtual keyboard, the plurality of the plurality of function keys are detected. A method of executing a function key display / non-display process.   10. The interface control method according to claim 7, wherein when an operation of selecting or pointing to a predetermined input field on a screen of a predetermined application is detected, a numeric keypad portion and / or a function of the virtual keyboard is detected. A method characterized by displaying a key.   11. The interface control method according to claim 7, wherein a virtual mouse tool including a mouse body and a cursor pointer that holds a predetermined position with respect to the mouse body is provided on the touch panel screen. The mouse body has one or more virtual click buttons and a virtual wheel. When a drag operation of the mouse body is detected, the entire virtual mouse tool is moved, and a tap operation of the virtual click button is detected. A click process at the tip of the cursor pointer, and a scroll process is executed when a slide operation on the virtual wheel is detected.   12. The interface control method according to claim 11, wherein when the device detects a drag operation of the mouse body to an end of a screen area where the tip of the cursor pointer cannot move due to a relative position of the mouse body and the cursor pointer. A method for enabling the selection operation of the screen area by relatively moving the display content of the touch panel screen to the opposite side.   An interface control program for a device having a touch panel screen, wherein the device comprises a virtual keyboard including a predetermined key arrangement on the touch panel screen, and a slide larger than a predetermined amount within a display area of the virtual keyboard. When a gesture is detected, the program is moved so that the entire key arrangement corresponding to the direction of the slide gesture is displayed, or the display / non-display processing of the entire predetermined key arrangement is executed. .   14. The interface control program according to claim 13, wherein the virtual keyboard includes a general-purpose keyboard portion that fits on the touch panel screen and a numeric keypad portion that is outside the right or left screen when the general-purpose keyboard portion is displayed. A program that causes the device to slide-display the virtual keyboard to the end in the direction corresponding to the user's operation in the screen when a left and right sliding operation of a predetermined amount or more is detected on the virtual keyboard. .   15. The interface control program according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the virtual keyboard has a plurality of function keys at the top, and when the device detects a vertical slide operation of a predetermined amount or more on the virtual keyboard. A program characterized by executing function key display / non-display processing.   16. The interface control program according to claim 13, wherein when an operation of selecting a predetermined input field on a screen of a predetermined application or pointing with a cursor is detected, a numeric keypad portion and / or a function of the virtual keyboard is detected. A program characterized by displaying a key.   17. The interface control program according to claim 13, wherein a virtual mouse tool including a mouse main body and a cursor pointer that holds a predetermined position with respect to the mouse main body is displayed on the touch panel screen. The mouse body has one or more virtual click buttons and a virtual wheel. When a drag operation of the mouse body is detected, the entire virtual mouse tool is moved, and a tap operation of the virtual click button is detected. In this case, a click process at the tip of the cursor pointer is performed, and a scroll process is executed when a slide operation on the virtual wheel is detected.   18. The interface control program according to claim 17, wherein the device detects a drag operation of the mouse body to an end of a screen area where the tip of the cursor pointer cannot move due to a relative position of the mouse body and the cursor pointer. A program for enabling selection operation of the screen area by relatively moving the display content of the touch panel screen to the opposite side.

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