JP4513620B2 - Information processing apparatus and data presentation method in information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a presentation method that facilitates intuitive grasping of measurement data.

  Conventionally, in order to confirm data obtained from various measurement experiments, measurement data is generally displayed using graphs, distribution diagrams, vector diagrams, and the like. Then, the measurement target environment is changed by changing the parameter setting value, and measurement data is collected separately. In this way, analysis or the like is performed by displaying a plurality of measurement data collected by changing measurement conditions in the same measurement environment side by side using a graph or the like.

  In addition, a plurality of measurement data may be obtained by one simulation without changing the environment of the measurement target. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen when measurement data obtained by magnetic field analysis is displayed so that it can be visualized. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing measurement data relating to physical property values such as permeability. 6 (b) is a contour diagram showing scalar data related to potential such as potential and temperature, and FIG. 6 (c) is a vector diagram related to vector data such as magnetic flux density. Thus, for example, when simulating an electromagnetic field, an electric field and a magnetic field are generated simultaneously, so that a plurality of measurement data such as potential and vector data can be obtained simultaneously as an analysis result in the one simulation. Also in this case, analysis or the like is performed by displaying a plurality of types of measurement data collected in the same measurement experiment in the same measurement environment side by side using a graph or the like.

  By the way, in recent years, a technique has been proposed in which data is presented by auditory sense, for example by making it audible, or by tactile sensation by tactile sensation or force sensation other than vision (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). . As a result, the user can intuitively grasp the measurement data or the change state of the measurement data. Further, the present patent applicant has also proposed an interface for presenting information to the user with a tactile sensation (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-330688 A [Search December 6, 2004], Internet <http://www.sensable.com/languages/jp-hp.asp>

  However, for example, when a plurality of measurement data collected while changing parameters in the same measurement environment is presented to the user, conventionally, each measurement data is displayed on a separate screen so that it can be visualized. Further, for example, even when a plurality of measurement data is obtained in one simulation, each measurement data is displayed on a separate screen as illustrated in FIG. For this reason, it is necessary to grasp the difference in measurement data only by visual observation, and it is difficult to intuitively grasp the difference.

  Although it is conceivable that the difference is grasped by displaying the measurement data superimposed on the same screen, diagrams with different expressions such as FIGS. 6A to 6C may be superimposed and displayed. When the vector data such as the magnetic flux density shown in FIG. 6C is displayed, the difference becomes difficult to understand.

  In addition, a method of presenting information with a sense other than vision has been proposed, but conventionally, data is presented with any one of predetermined senses.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an improved information processing apparatus capable of further improving the intuitive understanding of data.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention corresponds to one of a plurality of presenting means for presenting measurement data with different sensations , and the measurement data can be visualized. display means for presenting to, in accordance with user input from the screen display the selection screen, against the plurality of measurement data obtained from the same measurement environment, for presenting the measurement data to be presented in a different sense from each other An assignment processing means for associating the presenting means, a position detecting means for detecting a display position of a pointer on the display means that moves in response to a user operation, and measurement data associated with the display means in the display means. It converts into the presentation information for display, and it is in the detection position by the position detection means among the measurement data for presentation from the presentation means other than the display means. Presentation information generating means for converting the corresponding measurement data into presentation information for presentation from the presenting means, and information output means for outputting each presentation information generated by the presentation information generating means from the corresponding presentation means, And a plurality of pieces of measurement data obtained from the same measurement environment are simultaneously presented from the corresponding presentation means.

  In addition, one of the presenting means is a tactile force sense presenting means for presenting measurement data with a tactile force sense.

  Further, one of the presenting means is a sound output means for presenting measurement data by hearing.

  The plurality of measurement data to be presented is different types of data obtained from one simulation test.

  In addition, the measurement data storage means in which a plurality of measurement data is accumulated, the allocation processing means presents a plurality of measurement data selected by the user from the measurement data accumulated in the measurement data storage means It is characterized by.

The data presenting method in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is implemented in an information processing apparatus having a plurality of presenting means for presenting measurement data with different sensations , and the assigning means performs the same measurement according to an input instruction from the user. for a plurality of measurement data obtained from the environment, and the allocation step of associating said presentation means for presenting the measurement data to be presented in different sense from one another, is presented information generating means, each measurement data selected Are converted into presentation information for presentation from the corresponding presentation means, and an information output step for the information output means to simultaneously output each of the generated presentation information from the corresponding presentation means; It is characterized by including.

  The assigning step selects a plurality of measurement data to be presented from measurement data obtained from the same measurement environment.

  According to the present invention, since a plurality of measurement data can be presented simultaneously with other senses as well as vision, measurement data and changes thereof can be intuitively grasped.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, an information processing apparatus that presents measurement data obtained by a measurement experiment with visual, auditory, and tactile sensations is shown. FIG. 1 shows, together with the main body of the information processing apparatus 2 that holds measurement data obtained in advance by a measurement experiment in advance, as a presentation means for presenting measurement data, a display 4 for visualizing output, and an auditory The speaker 6 for presenting by tactile force and the tactile force sense presentation device for presenting by tactile force sense are shown.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. 2, the tactile force sense presentation device 8 includes a mouse 10 and a presentation portion 12 that protrudes from the upper surface of the mouse 10 as shown in FIG. The mouse 10 is an operation means operated by the user to move the cursor 14 on the display screen as is well known. The presentation part 12 presents the measurement data at the cursor position on the displayed measurement environment to the user through a touched fingertip with a tactile sensation. The mouse 10 and the presentation site 12 exchange information with the components provided in the information processing apparatus 2 via the corresponding interfaces (IF) 16 and 18, respectively. Among these, the mouse interface 16 has an operation detection unit 20 that detects the operation direction and amount of the mouse 10 by the user.

  The information processing apparatus 2 is realized by a configuration similar to that of a general-purpose computer such as a CPU, a memory, and an external storage device, and the following constituent elements are obtained by cooperative operation of the hardware of the computer and application software running on the computer. Is realized.

  The allocation processing unit 22 in the present embodiment displays a selection screen, which will be described later, on the display 4 and, according to a user selection operation from the selection screen, a plurality of measurement data stored in advance in the measurement data storage unit 24, The presenting means for presenting each of the plurality of plan data is associated. The sound information generation unit 26 converts the presentation by “auditory” and the selected measurement data into sound information, and outputs the sound information from the sound output unit 6 corresponding to a speaker. The image information generation unit 28 converts the presentation by “sight” and the selected measurement data into image information that can be visualized. The screen control unit 30 displays the measurement data on the display unit 4 corresponding to the display according to the image information generated by the image information generation unit 28, and displays the measurement data according to the mouse operation information including the operation direction and amount detected by the operation detection unit 20. The position of the cursor 14 on the upper side is detected and moved. Further, input / output control is performed via a selection screen displayed in accordance with an instruction from the assignment processing unit 22.

  The haptic information generating unit 32 generates haptic information by converting the presentation by the “haptic sensation” and the selected measurement data. The presentation site interface 18 includes a drive control unit 34 that performs drive control of the presentation site 12 in accordance with the haptic information generated by the haptic information generation unit 32. By the drive control by the drive control unit 34, the presentation site 12 presents the measurement data at the position of the cursor 14 to the user through the touched fingertip with a tactile force sense. Note that the tactile sensation presentation device 8 according to the present embodiment can use the information sensing device disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 by the present patent applicant.

  Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a case where a plurality of measurement data obtained simultaneously in one simulation is presented will be described as an example. As a set of measurement data, a data set including a magnetic permeability, a potential, and a magnetic flux density is used. FIG. 6 shows an example when all measurement data are displayed on the screen so that they can be visualized.

  The allocation processing unit 22 specifies the type of measurement data to be presented from the measurement data recorded in the measurement data storage unit 24 (step 110). In the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the types of permeability, potential, and magnetic flux density are recognized. The allocation processing unit 22 needs to recognize the presenting means included in the information processing apparatus 2, specifically the display 4, the speaker 6, and the tactile sensation presentation apparatus 8. The recognition of the presenting means is performed as data. Settings may be registered in advance in the apparatus, or may be recognized dynamically. When the allocation processing unit 22 acquires the measurement data to be presented and the presentation means in this way, the assignment processing unit 22 generates a selection screen as illustrated in FIG. 4 and displays it on the display 4 (step 120).

  In FIG. 4, the data type 40 of the measurement data to be presented is arranged in the vertical direction of the selection screen, and the presentation means type 42 is arranged and displayed in the horizontal direction. In this embodiment, instead of the type of the presenting means, the presenting method by the presenting means, specifically, “visual” if the presenting means is the display 4, “auditory” if the presenting means is the speaker 6, touch In the case of the force sense presentation device 8, “tactile sense” and “force sense” are displayed respectively. The “tactile sensation” is expressed by texture information such as a rough feeling, and the “force sensation” is expressed by an acting direction and its amount (vector information). The tactile force sense presenting device 8 may be used together with “tactile force sense”. Then, the measurement data and the various types of presentation means 40 and 42 are displayed in a two-dimensional table, and a check box 44 is arranged at the intersection.

  When the allocation processing unit 22 generates the above selection screen and displays it on the display 4, the user checks the corresponding check box 44 from which presentation means each measurement data is to be presented from this selection screen. Select by. The allocation processing unit 22 associates the measurement data with the presenting means according to the selection operation by the user (step 130). And each information generation part 26,28,32 carries out the data conversion of the measurement data matched by the allocation process part 22, respectively produces | generates sound information, image information, and tactile-force information, respectively from corresponding presentation means The converted information is output (steps 140 and 150). That is, if it is the image information generation part 28, corresponding measurement data will be converted into image information. Then, the screen control unit 30 outputs the generated image information and the cursor 14 to the display unit 4. In the case of the sound information generation unit 26, the corresponding measurement data is converted into sound information and output to the sound output unit 6.

  However, in the present embodiment, changes in measurement data values are expressed by changes in sound. That is, in the measurement environment, the measurement data value is not always constant everywhere, so it is necessary to output the sound according to the measurement data value. Therefore, in the present embodiment, measurement data corresponding to the position indicated by the cursor 14 in the displayed measurement environment is output. Therefore, the sound information generation unit 26 only needs to convert the measurement data at a position corresponding to the cursor position in the measurement environment displayed on the screen among the measurement data to be converted into sound information. Of course, the entire measurement data to be presented may be converted, but from the viewpoint of processing speed, it is efficient to convert only the position corresponding to the cursor position. Although details will be described later with a specific example, since the measurement data value to be presented also changes as the cursor 14 moves, the output sound is changed accordingly. In the present embodiment, one cursor 14 common to auditory sense and tactile sensation is used. However, the cursor 14 may be generated in correspondence with auditory sense and tactile sense. By doing so, it is possible to simultaneously present measurement data of different locations in the measurement environment, such as a certain location being auditory, a certain location being haptic, and the like. As described above, the sound information generation unit 26 presents the measurement data at the position pointed to by the cursor 14 in the measurement environment by hearing.

  Furthermore, the haptic information generating unit 32 generates haptic information by converting measurement data corresponding to the position pointed to by the cursor 14 in the measurement environment, like the sound information generating unit 26. The drive control unit 34 drives the presentation site 12 according to the haptic information generated by the haptic information generation unit 32. Thereby, the presentation site | part 12 presents the measurement data in the position of the cursor 14 to a user with a tactile force sense through the contacted fingertip.

  According to the present embodiment, measurement data relating to physical property data, scalar data, and vector data collected in one simulation can be presented by different presentation means. It is possible to simultaneously receive a plurality of measurement data with different feelings. Here, a specific example is given and demonstrated about the feeling which a user receives.

  For example, it is assumed that the user selects “sight” as the magnetic permeability, “auditory” as the potential, and “tactile” and “force” as the magnetic flux density from the selection screen illustrated in FIG. At this time, the screen control unit 30 displays the measurement data regarding the magnetic permeability on the display 4 as shown in FIG. Here, for convenience of explanation, the measurement data will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 (b) and 6 (c). However, in actuality, the user can only see FIG. 6 (a) displayed on the display 4, 6B and 6C are not visible.

  On the other hand, the sound information generation unit 26 performs data conversion on data corresponding to the position of the cursor displayed on the display 4 in the potential data corresponding to FIG. The measurement data corresponding to is presented by hearing. Similarly, the haptic information generating unit 32 converts the data of the portion corresponding to the position of the cursor displayed on the display 4 in the magnetic flux density data corresponding to FIG. The measurement data corresponding to the cursor position is presented by the sense of touch.

  FIG. 5 is the same diagram as FIG. 6 and is a diagram in which positions A and B indicated by the cursor and an arrow are added to FIG. The positions A and B are the same positions in FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b), and 5 (c). The arrow indicates that the position pointed to by the cursor has been moved from position A to position B. FIG. 5A shows that the cursor has been moved in the same color scheme, that is, in the region having the same physical property value. On the other hand, in FIG. 5B presented auditorily, it can be seen that the cursor has been moved from the dark region to the thin region. That is, the sound information generation unit 26 outputs a low pitch sound at the position A, for example, from the sound output unit 6, and changes it to a high pitch sound at the boundary where the color density changes when the cursor moves to the position B. Output. At position B, the sound output at a high pitch is maintained. In other words, the user can actually confirm only visually in FIG. 5 (a), but the auditory sense that the potential data value is changed by changing the pitch of the output sound when the cursor is moved. Can be confirmed.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 5 (c) presented by tactile sensation, the arrow representing the vector is slightly from the lower right to the upper left and the density is relatively low, and the arrow is from the upper right to the lower left and the density is relative. It can be seen that the cursor has been moved to a position B that is high. That is, at position A, the haptic information generating unit 32 receives a force sensation that receives a flow from the slightly lower right to the slightly upper left as it moves to the position B from the right to the left. A force sensation is generated, and at position B, a force sensation that receives a flow from the upper right to the lower left is generated. In this example, the tactile sensation is generated with a certain sense. In this way, the haptic information generating unit 32 presents the magnetic flux density data with the aforementioned haptic sensation, but the user can actually visually confirm only FIG. It can be confirmed by the haptic sense that the data value of the magnetic flux density is changed by changing the haptic sense when the cursor is moved.

  For example, if the user selects “tactile sense” and “force sense” as the magnetic permeability from the selection screen shown in FIG. The corners can be presented, and different tactile sensations such as a rough feeling and a smooth feeling can be presented at positions where the colors are different. Further, for example, if the user selects “auditory” as the magnetic flux density from the selection screen shown in FIG. 4, the sound information generation unit 26 gives directionality to the output sound by the stereo effect, and the magnitude of the magnetic flux density is large or small. Is expressed by the magnitude of the output sound.

  According to the present embodiment, three types of measurement data obtained by one simulation as described above can be presented simultaneously in different senses. In this way, it is possible to intuitively grasp changes in measurement data by simultaneously presenting auditory sense and tactile sensation. Further, for example, it becomes easy to grasp a difference in characteristics between measurement data that the potential is changed even if there is no change in the physical property value.

  Note that, for example, a tactile force sense will be described as an example. It is necessary to define in advance which tactile force and force angle each value of which type of measurement data is presented. For example, which value is presented with a rough feel. In addition, when it is possible to grasp in advance that the measurement data cannot be presented by tactile sensation, a selection screen is generated so that the check box 44 cannot be selected.

  By the way, in the above description, a case where a plurality of different types of measurement data can be collected in one simulation and presented in parallel is taken as an example. For this reason, it is assumed that only these three types of measurement data are stored in the measurement data storage unit 24. However, the set of measurement data to be presented is not limited to this. For example, if the three types of measurement data collected in one simulation described above are referred to as a data set, a plurality of data sets are accumulated in the measurement data storage unit 24 and are displayed on the selection screen by the allocation processing unit 22. Alternatively, the data type 40 of the measurement data to be presented in FIG. 4 may be determined by allowing the user to select a data set in the previous stage of selection screen generation.

  In addition, as a magnetic field analysis method, there are cases where a plurality of simulations are continuously performed while changing parameter values, and it is desired to confirm how certain measurement data changes due to the change of parameter values. In such a case, the user may be allowed to select the type of measurement data included in which data set, which type of measurement data. As a result, the potential at the time of parameter 1 is “visual”, the potential at the time of parameter 2 is “hearing”, and so on. Differences between them can be easily understood. If the parameter value set for each data set is added to the measurement data and saved in the measurement data storage unit 24, the setting value for the parameter is directly input to the user instead of the information for specifying the data set. Can be specified.

  Of course, in order to obtain the effect of intuitively recognizing the contents of measurement data and the difference between measurement data, different types of measurement data groups to be presented can be obtained in one simulation in the same measurement environment. It is preferable to be configured by a plurality of measurement data or a plurality of measurement data of the same type obtained by different parameter setting values in the same measurement environment.

  In any case, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of measurement data can be presented simultaneously from different presentation means, and a means for presentation can be selected for each measurement data to be presented. This enables intuitive understanding of measurement data. In the present embodiment, the measurement data is limited. However, the present invention can be applied to the presentation of other types of data as long as the same effect can be obtained.

1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a functional block block diagram of the information processing apparatus in this Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the presentation process of the measurement data in this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of a display of the selection screen produced | generated and displayed in this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of a display of the image information produced | generated by data-converting three types of measurement data obtained in one simulation, and the figure which showed the movement position of a cursor. It is the figure which showed the example of a display of the image information produced | generated by data-converting three types of measurement data obtained in one simulation so that visualization was possible.

Explanation of symbols

  2 Information processing device, 4 display, display unit, 6 speaker, sound output unit, 8 tactile sensation presentation device, 10 mouse, 12 presentation site, 14 cursor, 16 mouse interface, 18 presentation site interface, 20 operation detection unit, 22 Assignment processing unit, 24 measurement data storage unit, 26 sound information generation unit, 28 image information generation unit, 30 screen control unit, 32 haptic information generation unit, 34 drive control unit.

Claims (7)

A plurality of presentation means for presenting measurement data with different sensations ;
Display means that corresponds to one of the presenting means and presents the measurement data so that it can be visualized;
Accordance with a user input from the screen display the selection screen, against the plurality of measurement data obtained from the same measurement environment, associates said presentation means for presenting the measurement data to be presented in different sense from each other allocations Processing means;
Position detection means for detecting the display position of the pointer on the display means that moves in response to a user operation;
The measurement data associated with the display means is converted into the presentation information for display on the display means, and the detection position by the position detection means among the measurement data for presentation from the presentation means other than the display means Presenting information generating means for converting the measurement data corresponding to the presenting information to be presented from the presenting means,
Information output means for outputting each presentation information generated by the presentation information generating means from the corresponding presentation means;
And a plurality of pieces of measurement data obtained from the same measurement environment are simultaneously presented in parallel from the corresponding presentation means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
One of the presenting means is a tactile force sense presenting means for presenting measurement data with a tactile force sense. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
One of the presenting means is a sound output means for presenting measurement data by hearing. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the plurality of measurement data to be presented are different types of data obtained from one simulation test. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
Having a measurement data storage means in which a plurality of measurement data is accumulated;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the allocation processing unit uses a plurality of pieces of measurement data selected by a user from the measurement data stored in the measurement data storage unit. Implemented in an information processing apparatus having a plurality of presentation means for presenting measurement data with different sensations ,
Allocation means, for a plurality of measurement data obtained from the same measurement environment in accordance with the input instruction from the user, and allocating step of associating said presentation means for presenting the measurement data to be presented in a different sense from each other ,
A step in which the presentation information generating means converts each selected measurement data into presentation information for presentation from the corresponding presentation means;
An information output step in which the information output means outputs the generated presentation information simultaneously from the corresponding presentation means, and
A method for presenting data in an information processing apparatus, comprising: In the data presentation method in the information processing apparatus according to claim 6,
The allocation step selects a plurality of measurement data to be presented from measurement data obtained from the same measurement environment.