JP5575027B2 - Display-integrated coordinate input device and virtual keyboard function activation method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides an input function in a display-integrated coordinate input device, in particular, a so-called virtual keyboard function that enables a key input by displaying a keyboard on a display screen and allowing a user to touch a displayed key. The present invention relates to an easy-to-display integrated coordinate input device and a method for starting a virtual keyboard function.

As an input device to a computer, there are a tablet and a touch panel that directly input a coordinate position in addition to a keyboard and a mouse, and some of them can directly indicate an object by integrating a display function and a touch panel. Particularly in recent years, products having a display-integrated input device have been widely used.
A so-called virtual keyboard function that displays a keyboard on the display screen and enables the user to touch the displayed keys to enter keys by inputting characters and sentences on these devices. It is.
In addition, there exists the following patent document 1 as a well-known technical document relevant to this invention. Patent Document 1 describes a computer input device that can generate a soft keyboard and display it at a contact position of an image display device based on a contact area of a palm that is in contact with an input surface provided integrally with the image display device. ing.

JP 11-272423 A

By the way, the virtual keyboard function does not actually exist as hardware unlike the keyboard used in normal computer systems, so when using the virtual keyboard function, start the virtual keyboard function before using it. There is a need to. In order to activate the virtual keyboard function, it is common to perform operations such as opening a menu and selecting a corresponding function, or selecting an icon displayed on the screen.
For this reason, another operation is forced between the user's desire to input characters and the actual input operation, which hinders thinking.
A small-sized keyboard is considered suitable for people with small hands, such as women and children, but the size is generally selected from a menu or the like.
Note that the computer input device of Patent Document 1 can easily display a soft keyboard, but since the soft keyboard is generated based on the contact area of the palm, there is a risk of detecting something other than the palm and causing a malfunction. In addition, since the position of the finger of the hand is not accurately detected, there is a possibility that the display of the soft keyboard may not be suitable for the user.

  In view of the above situation, the present invention can automatically start a virtual keyboard suitable for the user by the operation of the user placing both hands on the display screen, without disturbing the user's thoughts, It is an object of the present invention to provide a display-integrated coordinate input device and a virtual keyboard function activation method that can easily shift to an input operation.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following configurations.
The invention according to claim 1 is a display-integrated coordinate input device in which a coordinate input device and an image display device are integrally configured, is a touch panel type, and can simultaneously input a plurality of coordinates,
The display-integrated coordinate input device, when there is an input to the coordinate input device, means for detecting the input coordinates;
When there are multiple points input to the coordinate input device, means for holding each pointed coordinate information;
Means for determining whether or not the virtual keyboard function is already activated in the display-integrated coordinate input device;
If the virtual keyboard function is not activated, means for determining whether or not the virtual keyboard function is activated from the number of coordinates pointed to the coordinate input device and its position information;
If the virtual keyboard function activation request is determined, means for calculating the display position and display size of the virtual keyboard to be activated from the information input to the coordinate input device;
Means for creating a virtual keyboard image with display position and display size;
Means for displaying the created image image on the image display device ,
Means for determining whether or not the virtual keyboard function activation request,
When the number of points input to the coordinate input device is 10 points, means for obtaining an approximate straight line from the contact positions of the remaining 8 points except for any 2 points out of 10 points;
Means for calculating the sum of the distances from the respective contact positions of the eight points to the approximate straight line in all combinations of the remaining eight points excluding any two points;
Means for obtaining a combination of the contact position of the left thumb and the contact position of the right thumb with the combination having the smallest sum of distances;
And a means for determining that the input is a virtual keyboard function activation request when all the distances from the eight contact positions to the approximate straight line in the obtained combination are within a predetermined distance. An integrated coordinate input device is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the display-integrated coordinate input device is configured such that, among the eight projected points obtained by vertically projecting the eight contact positions according to the obtained combination onto the approximate straight line, the distance between them is one. Means for calculating the two largest projection points;
Means for calculating the size and position of the entire virtual keyboard using the calculated two projection points as the center position of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand and the position of the center of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand, respectively. The display-integrated coordinate input device according to claim 1 is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for activating a virtual keyboard function in a display-integrated coordinate input device in which a coordinate input device and an image display device are integrally configured, which is a touch panel type and capable of simultaneously inputting a plurality of coordinates. Because
The display-integrated coordinate input device detects an input coordinate when there is an input to the coordinate input device;
If there are multiple points input to the coordinate input device, the step of holding each pointed coordinate information;
Determining whether a virtual keyboard function is already activated in the display-integrated coordinate input device;
If the virtual keyboard function is not activated, determining from the number of coordinates pointed to the coordinate input device and its position information whether it is a virtual keyboard function activation request;
If it is determined that the virtual keyboard function activation request, the step of calculating the display position and display size of the virtual keyboard to be activated from the information input to the coordinate input device;
Creating a virtual keyboard image with display position and display size;
Displaying the created image image on the image display device ; and
In the step of determining whether or not the display-integrated coordinate input device is an activation request for the virtual keyboard function,
When the number of points input to the coordinate input device is 10, obtaining an approximate straight line from the contact positions of the remaining 8 points excluding any 2 points out of 10 points;
Calculating the sum of the distances from the respective contact positions of the eight points to the approximate straight line in all combinations of the remaining eight points excluding any two points;
Obtaining a combination of the contact position of the thumb of the left hand and the contact position of the thumb of the right hand by the combination having the smallest sum of distances;
Distance from the contact position of the 8-point by the combination found to approximate line if all are within a predetermined distance, and executes a step of determining that the input is the activation request of a virtual keyboard, the display- A method for activating a virtual keyboard function in a body coordinate input apparatus is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the display-integrated coordinate input device is configured such that the distance between each of the eight projected points obtained by vertically projecting the eight contact positions according to the obtained combination onto the approximate straight line is one. Calculating the two largest projection points;
Calculating the size and position of the entire virtual keyboard using the calculated two projection points as the center position of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand and the position of the center of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand, respectively. A method for activating a virtual keyboard function in the coordinate input device with an integrated display according to claim 3 is provided.

The display integrated coordinate input device and the virtual keyboard function activation method of the present invention have the following effects.
(1) The virtual keyboard can be automatically activated by an operation in which the user puts both hands on the display screen, and the input operation can be easily performed without disturbing the user's thought.
(2) By automatically calculating and displaying the display position and display size of the virtual keyboard, an operation of selecting from the menu is not necessary, and the virtual keyboard suitable for the user can be easily used.

1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a display-integrated coordinate input device of the present invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the outline | summary of the process by the starting method of the virtual keyboard function in the display integrated coordinate input device of this invention. (A) It is explanatory drawing which showed the state which has put the left hand and the right hand on the coordinate input device, and the fingertip has touched the coordinate input device. (B) It is explanatory drawing which showed the method of specifying an approximate straight line. (A) It is explanatory drawing which showed the method of pinpointing the center position of the key which hits a little finger with a virtual keyboard. (B) It is explanatory drawing which showed that the size and position of the whole virtual keyboard can be calculated from the center position of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand and the center position of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand. (C) It is explanatory drawing which shows the virtual keyboard displayed on the image display apparatus by the size and position of the virtual keyboard.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing examples.
The display-integrated coordinate input device is a computer, and each means or step is a means or step realized by a computer CPU reading and executing a necessary computer program. FIG.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a display integrated coordinate input device and a virtual keyboard function activation method to which the present invention is applied will be described.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a display-integrated coordinate input device of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a display-integrated coordinate input device according to the present invention. In the display-integrated coordinate input device 100, reference numeral 1 denotes a coordinate input device. It is assumed that a plurality of coordinates can be input at the same time. 3 is a contact position detection unit capable of detecting a plurality of positions input by the coordinate input device 1, and 4 is a contact position determination unit that analyzes the input position and determines that it is a virtual keyboard activation request. Is a virtual keyboard display position / size calculation unit that determines the display position and display size of the virtual keyboard from the contact position, and 6 is a virtual keyboard that generates a virtual keyboard with the position and size calculated by the virtual keyboard display position / size calculation unit 5 A generation unit 7 is a drawing unit that displays a virtual keyboard on a screen, and 8 is an image display device that displays an image requested to be drawn. Reference numeral 9 denotes a virtual keyboard displayed on the image display device 8, and key inputs designated by the virtual keyboard 9 are output to the computer 10 connected to the display-integrated coordinate input device 100.

FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart showing an outline of processing in the virtual keyboard function activation method in the display-integrated coordinate input device of the present invention.
When there is an input to the coordinate input device 1, the contact position detector 3 detects the input coordinates. When a plurality of points are input to the coordinate input device 1, each pointed coordinate information is held and held in the contact position determination unit 4 (step 201).
The contact position determination unit 4 first determines whether or not the virtual keyboard function is already activated (step 202). If the virtual keyboard function is already activated, the touch position determination unit 4 determines the key of the virtual keyboard 9 on which the newly input position is displayed. It is determined whether or not it is within the display range (step 207). If it is within the display range of the key of the virtual keyboard 9, information such as characters corresponding to the corresponding key is output to the computer 10 (step 208). . If the input position is not within the range of any key of the displayed virtual keyboard 9, the process is terminated without doing anything.
If the virtual keyboard function is not activated, the number of coordinates pointed to the coordinate input device 1 and the position information thereof are compared with information registered in advance to determine whether the activation is a virtual keyboard function activation request. (Step 203).

When it is determined that the information input to the coordinate input device 1 is an activation request for the virtual keyboard function, the virtual keyboard display position / size calculation unit 5 determines the virtual keyboard 9 to be activated from the information input to the coordinate input device 1. The display position and display size are calculated (step 204), and the display position and display size are sent to the virtual keyboard generation unit 6.
The virtual keyboard generation unit 6 performs processing necessary for displaying the virtual keyboard 9 according to the processing system, such as creating a window for displaying the virtual keyboard 9 with the display position and display size sent to display the image. An image of the virtual keyboard 9 to be displayed on the device 8 is created (step 205) and sent to the drawing unit 7.
The drawing unit 7 displays the image of the sent virtual keyboard 9 on the image display device 8 (step 206).

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method for determining whether or not the input is a virtual keyboard function activation request from the coordinates input to the coordinate input device 1.
FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a state in which the left hand 301 and the right hand 302 are placed on the coordinate input device 1 and the fingertip is touching the coordinate input device 1. The contact position 311 to the contact position 320 in the figure indicate positions where the fingertip and the coordinate input device 1 are in contact.
First, if the number of contact positions (the number indicated by the coordinates pointed to the coordinate input device 1) is less than 10 points or exceeds 10, the input is not a virtual keyboard function activation request. to decide.
In FIG. 3B, when the number of contact positions is 10, the contact position 315 of the thumb of the left hand 301 and the contact position 316 of the thumb of the right hand 302 are excluded from the contact positions 311 to 320. It is the figure which showed the method of specifying 8 points | pieces (contact position 311 to 314 and contact position 317 to 320) and its approximate straight line 322. FIG.
Except for any two of the contact positions 311 to 320, the remaining eight approximate straight lines 322 are obtained. Since there are 40 combinations for selecting 8 points out of 10 points, there are 40 approximate straight lines. In all combinations (40 combinations), the sum of the distances 321 from all the eight contact positions to the approximate straight line is calculated, and the combination having the smallest distance is the left hand from the contact positions 311 to 320. 301 is a combination excluding the contact position 315 of the thumb of the thumb 301 and the contact position 316 of the thumb of the right hand 302.
When the distances from the respective contact positions of the contact positions 311 to 314 and the contact positions 317 to 320 to the approximate line are all within a certain distance, the input is a virtual keyboard activation request. Judge.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method for calculating the position and size of the virtual keyboard 9 to be displayed.
FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a method of specifying the center position of the key corresponding to the little finger on the virtual keyboard 9.
8 points excluding the contact position 315 of the left hand 301 and the contact position 316 of the right hand 302 from the contact position 311 to the contact position 320 obtained in FIG. Of the points, the two points having the greatest distance from each other are calculated. In FIG. 4A, the projection point 401 and the projection point 402 correspond to the two points having the greatest distance from each other, and the projection point 401 and the projection point 402 are keys corresponding to the little finger of the left hand on the virtual keyboard 9, respectively. Center position 421 and the center position 422 of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing that the size and position of the entire virtual keyboard can be calculated from the center position 421 of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand and the center position 422 of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand.
The length from the center position 421 of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand of the virtual keyboard to the left end of the virtual keyboard 9 is W1: 404, the center position 421 of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand of the virtual keyboard and the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand of the virtual keyboard 9 The length between the center position 422 is W2: 405, the length from the center position 422 of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand of the virtual keyboard 9 to the right end of the virtual keyboard 9 is W3: 406, the key corresponding to the left finger of the virtual keyboard 9 The length from the center position 421 to the upper end of the virtual keyboard 9 is H1: 407, and the length from the center position 421 of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand of the virtual keyboard 9 to the lower end of the virtual keyboard 9 is H2: 408.
At this time, for example, the horizontal width W: 409 of the virtual keyboard 9 can be obtained by the following expression.

  Similarly, the height H of the virtual keyboard 9 is 410, the upper left position 411 of the virtual keyboard 9, the upper right position 412 of the virtual keyboard, the lower left position 413 of the virtual keyboard 9, and the lower right position 414 of the virtual keyboard 9 are obtained. Can do.

  FIG. 4C is a diagram showing that the virtual keyboard 9 is displayed on the image display device 8 with the size and position of the virtual keyboard 9 obtained in FIG. 4B. This shows that the virtual keyboard 9 is displayed at the position and size where the left hand 301 and the right hand 302 placed on the coordinate input device 1 in this method are the home positions.

  The method for activating the virtual keyboard function in the display-integrated coordinate input device according to the present invention displays a virtual keyboard at the position when both hands are placed on the coordinate input device in a device using a touch panel that will be widely used in the future. This means that the virtual keyboard can be started intuitively without disturbing the user's thinking, and the size of the coordinate input device has increased in the near future. Since the present invention can also be applied to a system in which the whole is a display-integrated coordinate input device, it is useful as a method for starting a virtual keyboard function.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coordinate input device 8 Image display device 9 Virtual keyboard 10 Computer 100 Display-integrated coordinate input device 301 Left hand 302 Right hand 311-320 Contact position 321 Distance 322 Approximate line 401, 402 Projection point 421 Key center position 422 corresponding to left finger little finger Right hand Center position of the key corresponding to the little finger

Claims (4)

The coordinate input device and the image display device are integrally configured, is a touch panel type, and is a display integrated coordinate input device capable of simultaneously inputting a plurality of coordinates,
The display-integrated coordinate input device, when there is an input to the coordinate input device, means for detecting the input coordinates;
When there are multiple points input to the coordinate input device, means for holding each pointed coordinate information;
Means for determining whether or not the virtual keyboard function is already activated in the display-integrated coordinate input device;
If the virtual keyboard function is not activated, means for determining whether or not the virtual keyboard function is activated from the number of coordinates pointed to the coordinate input device and its position information;
If the virtual keyboard function activation request is determined, means for calculating the display position and display size of the virtual keyboard to be activated from the information input to the coordinate input device;
Means for creating a virtual keyboard image with display position and display size;
Means for displaying the created image image on the image display device ,
Means for determining whether or not the virtual keyboard function activation request,
When the number of points input to the coordinate input device is 10 points, means for obtaining an approximate straight line from the contact positions of the remaining 8 points except for any 2 points out of 10 points;
Means for calculating the sum of the distances from the respective contact positions of the eight points to the approximate straight line in all combinations of the remaining eight points excluding any two points;
Means for obtaining a combination of the contact position of the left thumb and the contact position of the right thumb with the combination having the smallest sum of distances;
And a means for determining that the input is a virtual keyboard function activation request when all the distances from the eight contact positions to the approximate straight line in the obtained combination are within a predetermined distance. Integrated coordinate input device. The display-integrated coordinate input device calculates the two projected points having the largest distance among the eight projected points obtained by projecting the eight contact positions according to the obtained combinations vertically to the approximate line. Means to
Means for calculating the size and position of the entire virtual keyboard using the calculated two projection points as the center position of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand and the position of the center of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand, respectively. The display-integrated coordinate input device according to claim 1 . The coordinate input device and the image display device are integrally configured, a touch panel type, and a virtual keyboard function activation method in a display-integrated coordinate input device capable of simultaneously inputting a plurality of coordinates,
The display-integrated coordinate input device detects an input coordinate when there is an input to the coordinate input device;
If there are multiple points input to the coordinate input device, the step of holding each pointed coordinate information;
Determining whether a virtual keyboard function is already activated in the display-integrated coordinate input device;
If the virtual keyboard function is not activated, determining from the number of coordinates pointed to the coordinate input device and its position information whether it is a virtual keyboard function activation request;
If it is determined that the virtual keyboard function activation request, the step of calculating the display position and display size of the virtual keyboard to be activated from the information input to the coordinate input device;
Creating a virtual keyboard image with display position and display size;
Displaying the created image image on the image display device ; and
In the step of determining whether or not the display-integrated coordinate input device is an activation request for the virtual keyboard function,
When the number of points input to the coordinate input device is 10, obtaining an approximate straight line from the contact positions of the remaining 8 points excluding any 2 points out of 10 points;
Calculating the sum of the distances from the respective contact positions of the eight points to the approximate straight line in all combinations of the remaining eight points excluding any two points;
Obtaining a combination of the contact position of the thumb of the left hand and the contact position of the thumb of the right hand by the combination having the smallest sum of distances;
Distance from the contact position of the 8-point by the combination found to approximate line if all are within a predetermined distance, and executes a step of determining that the input is the activation request of a virtual keyboard, the display- A method for starting a virtual keyboard function in a body coordinate input apparatus. The display-integrated coordinate input device calculates the two projected points having the largest distance among the eight projected points obtained by projecting the eight contact positions according to the obtained combinations vertically to the approximate line. And steps to
Calculating the size and position of the entire virtual keyboard using the calculated two projection points as the center position of the key corresponding to the little finger of the left hand and the position of the center of the key corresponding to the little finger of the right hand, respectively. A method for activating a virtual keyboard function in the display-integrated coordinate input device according to claim 3 .

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