JP4101264B2 - Character input device and character input method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device that performs character input using an on-screen keyboard displayed on a screen and a character input method for performing the character input.

  As one of the methods for executing character input using the on-screen keyboard displayed on the screen, the cursor superimposed on the on-screen keyboard is moved to the desired character key by operating the controller. There is a method of inputting characters one by one by determining the input.

  When a plurality of different characters are input continuously using the on-screen keyboard, the user operates the controller to move the cursor to the position of the character to be input on the on-screen keyboard. At this time, the user needs to operate the controller as many times as the cursor is moved on the on-screen keyboard. Here, the number of user operations increases as the positions of keys of different characters that are continuously input are separated on the keyboard. This increase in the number of operations is one factor that hinders speeding up of character input operations.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object thereof is to realize a high-speed character input operation using an on-screen keyboard.

  One embodiment of the present invention relates to a character input device. The character input device includes a keyboard display control unit that displays an on-screen keyboard on a screen, a cursor display control unit that displays a plurality of cursors on the on-screen keyboard, a cursor operation unit that receives a cursor operation by a user, and a cursor A cursor movement processing unit that moves a plurality of cursors on the on-screen keyboard according to a cursor operation received by the operation unit, an input operation unit that receives a user's character input operation, and a character input operation that the input operation unit receives And an input processing unit for specifying a character input by a desired cursor among the plurality of cursors.

  According to this aspect, the user operates the cursor operation unit to move a plurality of cursors on the on-screen keyboard, and operates the input operation unit to execute character input. Since a plurality of cursors are displayed on the on-screen keyboard, the user can select a character by moving the cursor located closest to the key of the character to be input among the plurality of cursors. As a result, compared with the case where only one cursor is displayed on the on-screen keyboard, the number of operations for moving the cursor to the character key to be input is reduced, and the speed of the character input operation is increased. it can.

  The cursor movement processing unit may be configured to be able to move each cursor over the entire area of the on-screen keyboard. According to this aspect, the user can perform character input using any of the plurality of cursors. As a result, room for selection of the user's operation is widened, and the operability of the character input device is improved.

  The plurality of cursors may be displayed with a predetermined positional relationship, and the cursor movement processing unit may move the plurality of cursors while maintaining the positional relationship. According to this aspect, the plurality of cursors move on the on-screen keyboard with a constant interval. After inputting a character using a cursor, even if the key of the next character to be input is located away from the key of the input character, the position of the other cursor depends on the key of the character to be input next. It is displayed at a close position. As a result, the number of times the user operates the cursor operation unit can be reduced, and the speed of character input can be increased.

  The cursor operation unit and the input operation unit may be provided in a single controller unit of the character input device. According to this aspect, the user can execute the operation of moving the cursor to the position of the desired character and the operation of specifying and inputting the character by the single controller unit. This makes the character input operation easier.

  The controller unit may be provided with a plurality of input operation units as a set so as to correspond to each of the plurality of cursors. According to this aspect, since the cursor and the input operation unit correspond to each other in position, when the user moves the cursor to a desired character position, the user intuitively moves the input operation unit corresponding to the cursor. You can input the character by operating. Thereby, the user can perform a character input simply, and the operativity of a character input device improves.

  A plurality of input operation units may be provided. According to this aspect, since a plurality of input operation units are provided in the controller unit, the number of input operation units that can be operated by the user during the character input operation increases. Thereby, the room for selection of the operation by the user is widened, so that the operability of the character input device is improved.

  The on-screen keyboard may be color-coded for each region in which character input with a plurality of cursors is recommended. According to this aspect, the user visually recognizes which region the key of the character to be input belongs to by the color of the region, and executes the character input using the cursor recommended in the region. Thus, the user can select a cursor used for character input based on an element that is easy to recognize sensibly such as color, so that the character input operation is simplified and the speed of character input can be increased.

  The cursor movement processing unit may move the plurality of cursors to a predetermined initial position by a predetermined operation different from the cursor operation by the user. According to this aspect, when the plurality of cursors are at positions away from the key of the character to be input, the user moves the cursor to the initial position and then operates the cursor operation unit to move to the key of the character. Can be moved. The movement to the initial position is executed by a predetermined operation different from the cursor operation. Here, by setting the number of operations in this operation to be small, the number of operations for moving the cursor can be reduced. As a result, speeding up of character input can be realized.

  Another aspect of the present invention relates to a program. This program has a function for displaying an on-screen keyboard on the screen, a function for displaying a plurality of cursors on the on-screen keyboard, a function for receiving a cursor operation by the user, and a plurality of cursors according to the received cursor operation. A function for moving on an on-screen keyboard, a function for accepting an input operation of a character corresponding to one of a plurality of cursor positions by a user, and a function for identifying an input character according to the accepted input operation May be realized by a computer.

  According to this aspect, the user moves a plurality of cursors on the on-screen keyboard by the cursor operation, and executes the character input by the input operation. At this time, the user moves the cursor located closest to the key of the character to be input among the plurality of cursors to the key position of the character, and executes an operation of inputting the character. As a result, compared with the case where only one cursor is displayed on the on-screen keyboard, the number of operations for moving the cursor to the character key to be input is reduced, and the speed of the character input operation is increased. it can.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described components and a representation of the present invention converted between a method, an apparatus, a system, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, speeding up of character input using an on-screen keyboard can be realized.

  In this embodiment, an example in which a character input device is applied to a game device will be described. In this game apparatus, when a plurality of cursors displayed on the on-screen keyboard displayed on the screen are moved and characters are sequentially input to create a word, the character displayed on the screen corresponds to the word. A game whose content is to operate is executed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the front surface of the game apparatus 100. The game apparatus 100 includes a game content display unit 24, an R button 38, an L button 40, an X button 42, a Y button 44, an upward button 46, a downward button 48, a right button 50, and a left button 52. It is configured as a single controller unit. As shown in FIG. 1, the R button 38 and the L button 40 are provided on the right side of the game content display unit 24, and are arranged side by side with the R button 38 positioned on the right side and the L button 40 positioned on the left side. . Further, the X button 42 and the Y button 44 are provided on the upper surface of the game apparatus 100 on the right side and the left side as viewed from the front of the game apparatus 100.
On the game content display unit 24, an on-screen keyboard 32, a character 34, an input character display unit 36, an R cursor 54, and an L cursor 56 are displayed. As shown in the figure, the on-screen keyboard 32 is in the lower area in the game content display section 24, the input character display section 36 is in the upper area in the game content display section 24, and the character 34 is in the game content display section 24. It is displayed in the area near the center.

The on-screen keyboard 32 includes a plurality of character keys necessary for the user to create words. As shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of keys are arranged and displayed on the game content display unit 24. Details of the on-screen keyboard 32 will be described later.
The R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are displayed on the on-screen keyboard 32 with a certain positional relationship. In the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are displayed side by side in the horizontal direction of the game content display unit 24 with three keys included in the on-screen keyboard 32 interposed therebetween. It is assumed that Here, on the on-screen keyboard 32, the R cursor 54 is positioned on the right side and the L cursor 56 is positioned on the left side. Hereinafter, the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are collectively referred to as “cursor”.

  The up direction button 46, the down direction button 48, the right direction button 50, and the left direction button 52 are buttons for moving the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 in the upward direction, the downward direction, the right direction, and the left direction, respectively. Hereinafter, these buttons are collectively referred to as “direction buttons”. The R button 38, the L button 40, the X button 42, and the Y button 44 are buttons for determining the input of the character selected by the R cursor 54 or the L cursor 56. Hereinafter, these buttons are also collectively referred to as “character input buttons”.

  When inputting characters using the game apparatus 100, the user operates the direction buttons to move the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 on the on-screen keyboard 32, and displays either cursor on the key of the desired character. Let Then, the user inputs a desired character by pressing the character input button. The input characters are displayed on the input character display unit 36 in the input order. The character 34 is displayed so as to operate in accordance with the contents of words created by the input characters.

  The R cursor 54 and the R button 38 and the L cursor 56 and the L button 40 correspond to each other. That is, the user presses the R button 38 when inputting the character selected by the R cursor 54, and presses the L button 40 when inputting the character selected by the L cursor 56. As described above, the R button 38 is located on the right side and the L button 40 is located on the left side, and the R cursor 54 and the R button 38, and the L cursor 56 and the L button 40 correspond to each other. That is, when the user selects a character with the cursor, the user can input the character by intuitively operating a button corresponding to the position of the cursor. Thereby, the user can perform character input simply.

Further, the user can input the character selected by the R cursor 54 by operating the X button 42 and the character selected by the L cursor 56 by operating the Y button 44. As described above, the X button 42 and the Y button 44 are respectively provided on the upper surface of the game apparatus 100 on the right side and the left side when viewed from the front of the game apparatus 100. The R cursor 54, the X button 42, and the L cursor 56 The Y button 44 corresponds to the position. That is, when the user selects a character with the cursor, the user can input the character by intuitively operating a button corresponding to the position of the cursor. Here, when operating the game apparatus 100 with both hands, the user operates the X button 42 with the right hand and the Y button 44 with the left hand. Thereby, the user can input a character intuitively with the hand corresponding to the position of the cursor. Therefore, character input becomes simple.
Furthermore, since the game apparatus 100 is provided with a plurality of operation buttons corresponding to the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56, there is room for the user to select an operation, and the operability of character input in the game apparatus 100 is improved.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the game apparatus 100. The game apparatus 100 includes a cursor operation unit 10, a cursor movement processing unit 12, a cursor display control unit 14, an input operation unit 16, an input processing unit 18, a character display control unit 20, a keyboard display control unit 22, and a game content display unit 24. Including. The keyboard display control unit 22 displays an on-screen keyboard 32 on the game content display unit 24. The cursor operation unit 10 receives a cursor operation by a user. The input operation unit 16 receives a user character input operation.

  The cursor movement processing unit 12 moves the plurality of R cursors 54 and L cursors 56 on the on-screen keyboard 32 in accordance with the cursor operation received by the cursor operation unit 10. Here, the cursor movement processing unit 12 moves these cursors while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship. The cursor movement processing unit 12 also sets the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 to a predetermined initial value on the on-screen keyboard 32 when the user performs a predetermined operation such as pressing the R button 38 and the L button 40 simultaneously. Move to position.

The cursor display control unit 14 displays an R cursor 54 and an L cursor 56 on the on-screen keyboard 32. When the cursor is moved by the cursor movement processing unit 12, the cursor is displayed at the position where the cursor is moved on the on-screen keyboard 32 accordingly. The input processing unit 18 specifies a character input by a desired cursor among the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 in accordance with the character input operation accepted by the input operation unit 16. The character display control unit 20 displays the character specified by the input processing unit 18 on the input character display unit 36 displayed on the game content display unit 24. When the input processing unit 18 specifies an input character, the game device 100 executes processing such as operating the character 34 in accordance with the specified character.
In game device 100, cursor operation unit 10, cursor movement processing unit 12, cursor display control unit 14, input operation unit 16, input processing unit 18, and keyboard display control unit 22 function as a character input device.

  Hereinafter, a character input operation using the on-screen keyboard 32 in a game executed on the game apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a screen of the game apparatus 100, that is, the game content display unit 24. For convenience of explanation, only the on-screen keyboard 32, the R cursor 54, the L cursor 56, and the input character display unit 36 are shown in the game content display unit 24. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are displayed at the initial positions on the on-screen keyboard 32.

  The on-screen keyboard 32 includes a plurality of character keys necessary for the user to input words. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the character keys included in the on-screen keyboard 32 are alphabet keys. Character keys included in the on-screen keyboard 32 can be changed by switching the screen display by a user operation. For example, if the user wishes to input a kana, the user can select the “Romaji” key on the on-screen keyboard 32 with the cursor and determine it, and the on-screen keyboard 32 including the kana character key can be displayed in the game content display section. 24 can be displayed. At this time, the “Kana character” key is displayed at the position where the “Romaji” key was displayed.

  The R cursor 54 is displayed at the position of the “U” key, and the L cursor 56 is displayed at the position of the “E” key. The positions of these keys are the initial positions of the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3A, the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are positioned side by side in a state where three keys are sandwiched therebetween, and these cursors are, as will be described later, In principle, move while maintaining this positional relationship. As shown in the figure, the letter “R” is displayed small near the R cursor 54, and the letter “L” is displayed small near the L cursor 56. Thus, even if the cursor moves, the user can determine which cursor it is by looking at the characters displayed near the cursor.

  The on-screen keyboard 32 is color-coded for each region where character input by the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 is recommended. In the right half area of the on-screen keyboard 32, when the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are in the initial position, it is necessary to input characters using the R cursor 54 rather than inputting characters using the L cursor 56. This is an area where there are few frequent cursor operations. On the other hand, the left half area of the on-screen keyboard 32 is an area where the number of cursor operations required for character input is smaller when inputting characters with the L cursor 56 than when inputting characters with the R cursor 54. That is, it can be said that the right half area of the on-screen keyboard 32 is an area where character input by the R cursor 54 is recommended, and the left half area is an area where character input by the L cursor 56 is recommended.

In the present embodiment, for example, the on-screen keyboard 32 is color-coded by displaying the right half area in red and the left half area in blue. Further, it is assumed that the R cursor 54 is displayed in red and the L cursor 56 is displayed in blue. This makes it easier for the user to recognize which area is recommended for character input by each cursor.
In this way, when the on-screen keyboard 32 is color-coded, the user can easily perform character input with a recommended cursor based on an element that is sensuously recognizable as color. High speed can be realized.
In the present embodiment, the on-screen keyboard 32 is color-coded, but may be colored by gradation. For example, the on-screen keyboard 32 is colored so as to gradually transition from red to blue from the right side to the left side. This also makes it possible to simplify and speed up the character input operation, as in the case of the above-described color coding.

The R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 move as follows.
(1) The R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are arranged in the horizontal direction with an interval corresponding to three keys, and in principle move while maintaining this positional relationship.
(2) As an exception, when the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are moved in the horizontal direction and one of them moves to the end key on the on-screen keyboard 32, if the operation for moving in that direction is continued, One cursor does not move, only the other cursor moves in that direction. Eventually, these cursors are displayed superimposed on the end keys.
(3) After the operation in (2), if the cursor displayed in a superimposed manner is moved in the direction opposite to the movement direction in (2), only the other cursor will move in that direction. If there is an interval for three keys, one cursor moves in that direction.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the word “WALK” is input will be described. At this time, the user performs character input in the order of “W”, “A”, “L”, and “K”. In this example, it is assumed that the user inputs a character using a cursor located at a key closer to the key of the character to be input among the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56.

First, the user inputs “W”.
FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a display mode of the game content display unit 24 when the character “W” is input. Of the “U” key that is the initial position of the R cursor 54 and the “E” key that is the initial position of the L cursor 56, the “E” key is closer to the “W” key. Therefore, the user inputs “W” with the L cursor 56. The user presses the left button 52 once to move the L cursor 56 to the position of the “W” key. Here, the R cursor 54 also moves to the left by one key and moves to the position of the “Y” key.
When the user presses the L button 40 and inputs “W”, “W” is displayed on the input character display section 36 as shown in FIG.

The user then inputs “A”.
FIG. 3C is a diagram illustrating a display mode of the game content display unit 24 when the character “A” is input. When the input of “W” is completed, the L cursor 56 is positioned on the “W” key and the R cursor 54 is positioned on the “Y” key. Of the “W” key and “Y” key, the “W” key is closer to the “A” key. Therefore, the user inputs “W” with the L cursor 56. At this time, the user presses the down button 48 once and the left button 52 once to move the L cursor 56 to the position of the “W” key. Here, the R cursor 54 also moves downward by one key and leftward by one key, and moves to the position of the key “G”.
When the user presses the L button 40 and inputs “A”, as shown in FIG. 3C, “A” is displayed after “W” in the input character display unit 36.

The user then inputs “L”.
FIG. 3D is a diagram illustrating a display mode of the game content display unit 24 when the character “L” is input. When the input of “A” is completed, the L cursor 56 is positioned on the “A” key and the R cursor 54 is positioned on the “G” key. Of the “A” key and “G” key, the “G” key is closer to the “L” key. Therefore, the user inputs “L” with the R cursor 54. The user presses the right button 50 four times to move the R cursor 54 to the “L” key position. Here, the L cursor 56 also moves to the right by four keys and moves to the position of the “G” key.
When the user presses the R button 38 to input “L”, “L” is displayed after “A” in the input character display section 36 as shown in FIG.

The user then inputs “K”.
FIG. 3E is a diagram illustrating a display mode of the game content display unit 24 when the character “K” is input. When the input of “L” is completed, the R cursor 54 is positioned on the “L” key and the L cursor 56 is positioned on the “G” key. Of the “L” key and “G” key, the “L” key is closer to the “K” key. Therefore, the user inputs “K” using the R cursor 54. The user presses the left button 52 once to move the R cursor 54 to the position of the “K” key. Here, the L cursor 56 is also moved leftward by one key and moved to the position of the key “F”.
When the user presses the R button 38 and inputs “K”, “K” is displayed after “L” in the input character display section 36 as shown in FIG.

  Since the user continuously inputs four characters “W”, “A”, “L”, and “K”, the word “WALK” is displayed on the input character display unit 36. Here, when the user presses the down button 48 twice to move the R cursor 54 to the “complete” key position and presses the R button 38, the character input is completed. As a result, in the game device 100, a process of displaying the movement of the character 34 on the game content display unit 24 in accordance with the input word “WALK” is executed.

  As described above, the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are displayed at regular intervals and move while maintaining the positional relationship. As a result, after a character is input using one cursor, the position of the other cursor should be input next even if the key of the character to be input next is located away from the key of the input character. Displayed closer to the character key. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of times that the user operates the cursor operation unit and to increase the speed of character input.

  The example in which the word “WALK” is input using both the R button 38 and the L button 40 has been described. Character input operation in game device 100 according to the present embodiment is not limited to this, and any character can be input using only R button 38 or only L button 40. Hereinafter, an example in which the word “WALK” is input using only the L button 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. At this time, it is assumed that the user inputs “W” and “A” with the L button 40 in the same manner as described above with reference to FIGS. 3B and 3C. Here, a case where “L” and “K” are input by the L button 40 will be described.

FIG. 3F is a diagram illustrating a display mode of the game content display unit 24 when the character “L” is input by the L button 40. When the input of “A” is completed, the L cursor 56 is positioned on the “A” key and the R cursor 54 is positioned on the “G” key, as shown in FIG. Next, in order to input “L” with the L button 40, the user presses the right button 50 eight times to move the L cursor 56 to the position of the “L” key. At this time, when the right button 50 is pressed five times, the R cursor 54 is positioned on the “;” key. When the user presses the right button 50 three times, the R cursor 54 does not move from the “;” key, and the L cursor 56 moves to the position of the “L” key.
When the user presses the L button 40 to input “L”, “L” is displayed after “A” in the input character display section 36 as shown in FIG.

The user then inputs “K”.
FIG. 3G is a diagram illustrating a display mode of the game content display unit 24 when the character “K” is input by the L button 40. When the input of “L” is completed, the R cursor 54 is positioned on the “;” key and the L cursor 56 is positioned on the “L” key. Next, in order to input “K” using the L button 40, the user presses the left button 52 once to move the L cursor 56 to the position of the “K” key. At this time, since there is no space for three keys between the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 before the user operates the left button 52, the R cursor 54 moves from the position of the key “;”. do not do.
When the user presses the L button 40 and inputs “K”, as shown in FIG. 3G, “K” is displayed after “L” in the input character display section 36.

Here, an example in which the user creates words using only the L button 40 has been described, but it goes without saying that words can be created using only the R button 38 in the same manner.
Thus, in game device 100 according to the present embodiment, the user can input characters by operating only one of R button 38 and L button 40. The user's preference depends on which of the R button 38 and the L button 40 is used to input characters and which one of these buttons is used for easy input. In game device 100 according to the present embodiment, character input can be performed by any of these operations, and the user can cope with various user preferences as described above, so that the operability is good.

In game device 100 according to the present embodiment, the user can move each of R cursor 54 and L cursor 56 to the entire area of on-screen keyboard 32. This will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3H is a diagram illustrating a display mode of the game content display unit 24 when “A” is input by the R button 38 after “W” is input in the above example. As shown in FIG. 3B, when the input of “W” is completed, the L cursor 56 is positioned at the “W” key and the R cursor 54 is positioned at the “Y” key. It is assumed that the user presses the down button 48 once and the left button 52 five times to move the R cursor 54 to the position of the key “A”. Here, when the down button 48 is pressed once and the left button 52 is pressed once, the L cursor 56 moves to the position “A”. Thereafter, even when the left button 52 is pressed, the L cursor 56 does not move from the position “A”, and only the R cursor 54 moves to the left. As a result of pressing the down button 48 once and the left button 52 five times, the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 are displayed superimposed on the position of the key “A” as shown in FIG. Is done. When the user presses the R button 38, “A” is displayed on the right side of “W” in the input character display unit 36.

  In addition, after inputting “A” with the R cursor 54 and subsequently inputting “L” with the R cursor 54, the user presses the right button 50 eight times. At this time, until the right button 50 is pressed four times, only the R cursor 54 moves in the right direction, and the L cursor 56 does not move from the position of the “A” key. When the right button 50 is pressed four times, the R cursor 54 is positioned at the “G” key and the L cursor 56 is positioned at the “A” key. That is, there is an interval of three keys between these cursors. When the right button 50 is further pressed, the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 move to the right while maintaining the interval.

  In this way, each of the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56 can move over the entire area of the on-screen keyboard 32. Thus, the user can input characters of all keys included in the on-screen keyboard 32 by operating only one of the R button 38 and the L button 40. That is, in this case, the user does not need to replace the finger pressing the R button 38 or the L button 40 according to the character to be input, so that the character input operation is simplified. In addition, since all characters on the on-screen keyboard 32 can be input by any of the R cursor 54 and the L cursor 56, the room for selection of the user's operation is widened, and the operability of the character input device is improved.

In the above example, in order to select a character to be input, the direction button is operated to move the cursor one key at a time. However, the cursor movement operation is not limited to this. In the game apparatus 100, the cursor is moved to the initial position by a predetermined button operation different from the cursor operation using only the direction button by the user, and the cursor is moved by the direction button from the position to the character key to be input. Is possible. Hereinafter, the operation of moving the cursor to the initial position is also referred to as “initial position movement operation”.
As an example, a case will be described in which the R cursor 54 positioned at the “V” key is moved to the “0” key position. It is assumed that the initial position movement operation is an operation of simultaneously pressing the R button 38 and the L button 40. That is, the number of button operations in the initial position movement operation is one. When the cursor is moved only by the operation of the direction button, for example, the user presses the right button 50 five times and the up button 46 three times. At this time, the direction button is pressed a total of eight times.

  When operating the direction button after executing the initial position movement operation, first, the user performs an operation of simultaneously pressing the R button 38 and the L button 40. As a result, the R cursor 54 moves from the position of the “V” key to the position of the “U” key, which is the initial position. Thereafter, for example, the user presses the right button 50 three times and the up button 46 once to move the R cursor 54 to the position “0”. In this case, the user's button operation is performed five times in total.

  That is, the number of button operations when the initial position movement operation is executed is three times less than the number of button operations when the cursor is moved only by operating the direction button. Because the number of button operations is small, it is possible to speed up character input. The effect of speeding up character input becomes more significant as the number of keys included in the on-screen keyboard increases. An example of an on-screen keyboard having a large number of keys is an on-screen keyboard that supports kana input.

The operation of moving the cursor from the initial position to each character key can be patterned for each character key. That is, after performing the initial position movement operation, the user may move the cursor by operating the direction button with a pattern corresponding to the character to be input.
As an example, when moving the L cursor 56 located at the “B” key to the “A” key and moving the L cursor 56 located at the “5” key to the “A” key Will be explained. When the cursor is moved only by the operation of the direction button without executing the initial position movement operation, in the former case, for example, the user presses the left button 52 five times and the up button 46 once. In the latter case, for example, the user presses the left button 52 four times and the down button 48 twice. That is, the operation of the direction buttons in both is different. Here, consider a case where the direction button is operated after the initial position movement operation is executed. In this case, in any of the above cases, after the user performs the initial position movement operation, the user operates the direction button in a predetermined pattern, for example, pressing the left button 52 twice and the down button 48 once. Then, the L cursor 56 can be moved to the “A” key.

  In other words, when the user wants to input a certain character, regardless of which key the cursor is currently positioned at, the user first performs an initial position movement operation and then uses a pattern to move to that character's key. Just operate the button. Thereby, even when different characters are continuously input, the character input operation can be patterned, so that the user can easily perform the character input.

  In the present embodiment, the R button 38, the L button 40, and the direction button are operated when inputting characters, but it goes without saying that the R button 38 can be used instead of the X button 42, and the L button 40 can be used instead of the Y button 44. Absent.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. is there. For example, the following modifications can be considered.

  In the present embodiment, there are two cursors, but the number of cursors is not limited to this, and three or more cursors may be provided. At this time, it is desirable to provide the same number of character input buttons as the number of cursors, and to associate the cursors with the character input buttons. In the present embodiment, a plurality of keys are arranged so that the on-screen keyboard 32 has a quadrangular shape, but the key arrangement pattern is not limited to this. For example, the keys may be arranged so that the on-screen keyboard 32 is a triangle. At this time, three cursors are displayed on the on-screen keyboard 32, and it is recommended that each of the areas extending from the vertex of the triangle formed by the on-screen keyboard 32 to the center of gravity is input by the three cursors. An example of setting as an area is conceivable. As a result, the speed of character input can be increased as the number of cursors increases. In addition, by setting the above-described region, it is possible to suppress variation in the number of cursor movement operations between the cursors during character input, and to improve the operability of the game apparatus 100.

  In the present embodiment, character input is executed by operating the R button 38, L button 40, X button 42, and Y button 44. However, in a modified example, a lever is provided in the game apparatus 100, and character input is executed by the lever. May be. In this case, the user tilts the lever to the right and inputs the character of the key where the R cursor 54 is located, and tilts the lever to the left and inputs the character of the key where the L cursor 56 is located. As a result, the user can input both the character of the key where the R cursor 54 is located and the character of the key where the L cursor 56 is located by operating one lever, so that the character input operation is simplified.

In the present embodiment, the initial position moving operation is an operation of simultaneously pressing the R button 38 and the L button 40. However, in the modified example, the initial position moving operation is performed by simultaneously pressing the X button 42 and the Y button 44, for example. An operation of pressing the R button 38 and the upward button 46 may be performed simultaneously. That is, the initial position movement operation may be an operation different from the cursor operation using only the direction button.
In the present embodiment, the initial position movement operation is a single button operation. However, in a modified example, the initial position movement operation may be two or more button operations.

It is a figure which shows the front surface of a game device. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of a game device. It is a figure which shows the game content display part of a game device. It is a figure which shows the display mode of the game content display part when the character "W" is input. It is a figure which shows the display mode of the game content display part when the character "A" is input. It is a figure which shows the display mode of the game content display part when the character "L" is input. It is a figure which shows the display mode of the game content display part when the character "K" is input. It is a figure which shows the display mode of a game content display part when character "L" is input by the L button. It is a figure which shows the display mode of a game content display part when the character "K" is input by the L button. It is a figure which shows the display mode of a game content display part when character "A" is input by R button.

Explanation of symbols

  10 cursor operation section, 12 cursor movement processing section, 14 cursor display control section, 16 input operation section, 18 input processing section, 20 character display control section, 22 keyboard display control section, 24 game content display section, 32 on-screen keyboard, 34 characters, 36 input character display section, 38 R button, 40 L button, 42 X button, 44 Y button, 46 up button, 48 down button, 50 right button, 52 left button, 54 R cursor, 56 L cursor, 100 game device.

Claims (12)

A keyboard display controller for displaying an on-screen keyboard on the screen;
A cursor display control unit for displaying a plurality of cursors with character spacing on the on-screen keyboard;
A cursor operation unit for receiving a cursor operation by a user;
A cursor movement processing unit that simultaneously moves the plurality of cursors on an on-screen keyboard according to one cursor operation received by the cursor operation unit;
An input operation unit for receiving a user's character input operation;
An input processing unit that identifies a character input by a desired cursor among the plurality of cursors in response to a character input operation received by the input operation unit;
Equipped with a,
The cursor display control unit displays two cursors on the on-screen keyboard,
When the cursor movement processing unit moves the two cursors in the horizontal direction and moves one of them to the end key in the on-screen keyboard, the cursor operation unit further moves the cursor in that direction. When the character input is accepted, the one cursor is not moved, and the other cursor is moved in that direction .   The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the cursor movement processing unit is configured to be able to move each cursor to the entire area of the on-screen keyboard.   The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of cursors are displayed with a predetermined positional relationship, and the cursor movement processing unit moves the plurality of cursors while maintaining the positional relationship.   The character input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cursor operation unit and the input operation unit are provided in a single controller unit of the character input device.   The character input device according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of input operation units are provided as a set in the controller unit so as to correspond to each of the plurality of cursors.   The character input device according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of sets of the plurality of input operation units are provided.   The character input device according to any one of 1 to 6, wherein the on-screen keyboard is color-coded for each region in which character input by each of the plurality of cursors is recommended.   8. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the cursor movement processing unit moves the plurality of cursors to a predetermined initial position by a predetermined operation different from the cursor operation by a user. The cursor display control unit displays two cursors, a right cursor and a left cursor, on the on-screen keyboard, and initially displays the right cursor in a right half area of the on-screen keyboard. the character input device according to any one of the left cursor to the left half area of the screen keyboard claim 1, characterized in that the initial display 8. A first step of displaying an on-screen keyboard on the screen;
A second step of displaying a plurality of cursors with character spacing on the on-screen keyboard;
A third step of accepting a cursor operation by the user;
A fourth step of simultaneously moving the plurality of cursors on the on-screen keyboard in response to one accepted cursor operation;
A fifth step of accepting a user's character input operation;
A sixth step of identifying a character input by a desired cursor among the plurality of cursors in response to a received character input operation;
Equipped with a,
The second step displays two cursors on the on-screen keyboard,
In the fourth step, when the two cursors are moved in the horizontal direction and one of the two cursors is moved to the key at the end of the on-screen keyboard, an operation for further moving in the direction is accepted in the third step. And a method for inputting characters , wherein one of the cursors is not moved and the other cursor is moved in that direction . A first function for displaying an on-screen keyboard on the screen;
A second function for displaying a plurality of cursors spaced apart on the on-screen keyboard;
A third function for receiving a cursor operation by the user;
A fourth function for simultaneously moving the plurality of cursors on the on-screen keyboard in response to one accepted cursor operation;
A fifth function for receiving an input operation of a character corresponding to any position of the plurality of cursors by the user;
A sixth function for identifying an input character in accordance with the received input operation;
Is realized on a computer ,
The second function displays two cursors on the on-screen keyboard,
In the fourth function, when the two cursors are moved in the horizontal direction and one of the two cursors is moved to the key at the end of the on-screen keyboard, the third function accepts an operation for further moving in the direction. And a program for moving the other cursor in that direction without moving one of the cursors . A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 11 is recorded.

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