JP6086035B2 - Portable electronic device and character input support program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device and a character input support program.

  For example, recent portable electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet terminals are usually provided with a learning dictionary for converting kana characters input by the user into words in order to facilitate the user's word input. . For example, in “kana-kanji conversion” using a learning dictionary, conversion candidates are learned as needed based on the history of conversions performed by the user in the past, and the learning dictionary is updated as needed. In the update of the learning dictionary, the priorities of many conversion candidates for a certain kana character are updated as needed based on the conversion history of each user. Therefore, when the user performs kana-kanji conversion, a plurality of conversion candidates for the kana character are displayed in a priority order specific to each user according to the input of the kana character by the user.

  In addition, there is a portable electronic device having a function of sequentially reading a plurality of conversion candidates for an input kana character in order to support a visually impaired person. Conventionally, an instruction to read out conversion candidates has been given by a user pressing a specific key such as a space key on a keyboard.

JP 2010-176402 A

  In recent portable electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet terminals, a mechanical keyboard is not provided, and characters are input using a software keyboard displayed on a touch panel provided in the portable electronic device.

  Since the area of the touch panel of the portable electronic device is small, character input may be performed using a numeric keypad instead of a full keyboard. However, a normal numeric keypad does not include a specific key such as a space key for instructing conversion candidates to be read out.

  Moreover, since the area of the touch panel of a portable electronic device is small, when a full keyboard is displayed on a touch panel, the area of each key including a space key will become small. For this reason, it is assumed that a visually impaired person touches a key different from a specific key by mistake when instructing to read out conversion candidates. In other words, if the conversion candidate is instructed to be read out by touching a specific key, the operation of the conversion candidate to be read out may not be performed correctly, resulting in poor operability.

  In addition, when the conversion candidate is instructed to be read out by touching a specific key, it is cumbersome to search for and touch the specific key from the multiple keys displayed on the touch panel. It becomes worse. In particular, since the keyboard displayed on the touch panel has no irregularities, it is troublesome for a visually handicapped person to find a specific key from among a plurality of keys.

  The disclosed technology has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a portable electronic device and a character input support program that can improve operability when reading conversion candidates.

  In the disclosed aspect, when a touch on the outer peripheral portion of the touch panel is detected in a state where conversion candidates for characters input to the touch panel are displayed on the touch panel, the mode shifts to a mode in which conversion candidates are read out.

  According to the aspect of an indication, the operativity at the time of reading a conversion candidate can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of XY coordinates of the touch panel according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining processing of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment.

  Embodiments of a portable electronic device and a character input support program disclosed in the present application will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiment does not limit the portable electronic device and the character input support program disclosed in the present application. Further, in the following embodiments, configurations having the same function and steps for performing the same processing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[Example 1]
<Hardware configuration of portable electronic device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, the portable electronic device 10 includes a processor 11, a touch panel 12, a speaker 13, and a memory 14. Examples of the portable electronic device 10 include a smartphone and a tablet terminal.

  The processor 11 performs various processes of the portable electronic device 10. In particular, the processor 11 performs various controls according to input operations on the touch panel 12 and various sounds output from the speaker 13. Examples of the processor 11 include a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

  The touch panel 12 is attached to the surface of the mobile electronic device 10 and accepts an input operation and displays various information.

  The speaker 13 outputs sound and the like.

  The memory 14 stores various programs, a learning dictionary, and the like. Examples of the memory 14 include a random access memory (RAM) such as an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), a read only memory (ROM), and a flash memory.

<Operation of portable electronic device>
2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment. 2 and 3, the operation of the mobile electronic device 10 is shown in time series from time t0 to time t4. FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example in which kanji word conversion candidates are read out in response to kana character input. However, the application of the disclosed technology is not limited to kana-kanji conversion. The disclosed technique can also be applied when reading conversion candidates for input characters other than kana characters such as alphabets.

  In FIG. 2, at time t <b> 0, three conversion candidates “candidate”, “Kohoku Ward”, and “publication” are converted to the touch panel 12 as conversion candidates for the kana character “ko” input to the touch panel 12 in the “character input mode”. Is displayed. The area of the touch panel 12 is divided into three areas 12A, 12B, and 12C. Characters input or selected by the user are displayed in area 12A. Conversion candidates are displayed in the area 12B. In the area 12C, an input key for the user to input characters is displayed. Here, the “character input mode” is a mode in which characters can be input to the touch panel 12. In the character input mode, the kana character “ko” is input by, for example, toggle input or flick input starting from the touch of the input key “ka” displayed in the area 12C.

  At the time t1, the user touches the outer peripheral portion 121 of the touch panel 12 in a state where the three conversion candidates “candidate”, “Kohoku Ward”, and “publication” are displayed on the touch panel 12, and the processor 11 A touch on the outer periphery 121 is detected. When the processor 11 detects a touch on the outer peripheral portion 121, the processor 11 shifts to a “conversion candidate reading mode” in which conversion candidates are read out. That is, the processor 11 changes from the character input mode to the conversion candidate reading mode when it detects a touch on the outer peripheral portion 121 of the touch panel 12 in a state where the conversion candidates for the characters input to the touch panel 12 are displayed on the touch panel 12. Transition. The processor 11 does not accept character input in the conversion candidate reading mode. Therefore, in the conversion candidate reading mode, even if the input key displayed in the area 12C is touched, character input is not accepted. 2 and 3 show an example in which an operation on the touch panel 12 is performed by a user's finger. However, the operation with respect to the touch panel 12 is not limited to a user's finger. The operation on the touch panel 12 may be performed using a tool such as a touch pen, for example.

  Here, the outer peripheral part 121 of the touch panel 12 is prescribed | regulated as follows. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of XY coordinates of the touch panel according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an area where input can be accepted on the touch panel 12 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “inputtable area”) is a minimum coordinate (X1, Y1) using the XY coordinates. And a rectangle represented by the upper right coordinates (X2, Y2) which are the maximum coordinates. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the input possible area is (X1, Y1) − (X2, Y2) = (0, 0) − (500, 640). A region having a predetermined distance d from the end of each side of the input enabled region is defined as the outer peripheral portion 121. For example, in FIG. 4, when d = 10, the outer peripheral portion 121 has an area of X = 0 to 9,491 to 500 regardless of the Y coordinate value, and Y = 0 to 9 regardless of the X coordinate value. , 631 to 640. That is, at least the left outer periphery 121 includes X = 0 coordinates, the right outer periphery 121 includes X = 500 coordinates, and the lower outer periphery 121 includes Y = 0 coordinates. Thus, the outer peripheral portion 121 at the upper end includes coordinates of Y = 640. X = 0 and 500 are the minimum and maximum values of X, respectively, and Y = 0 and 640 are the minimum and maximum values of Y, respectively. Further, the input enabled area usually matches the entire area of the touch panel 12. In other words, the outer peripheral portion 121 is defined as a predetermined area including the minimum coordinate or the maximum coordinate of the touch panel 12. Therefore, when an area including coordinates (X, Y) having any of X = 0, X = 500, Y = 0 or Y = 640 is touched on the touch panel 12, the processor 12 moves the touch to the outer peripheral portion. Detected as a touch on 121.

  Returning to FIG. 2 and FIG. Operations at times t2 to t4 after the touch on the outer peripheral portion 121 of the touch panel 12 is detected are operations in the conversion candidate reading mode. From time t2 to t4, the user performs “slide operation”. Here, the “slide operation” is an operation of moving an object touched on the touch panel 12 by a predetermined amount while touching.

  That is, at time t2 in FIG. 2, a left slide operation is performed by the user starting from the touch position at time t1, that is, the touch position on the outer peripheral portion 121, and the processor 11 detects this left slide operation. . When the processor 11 detects a slide operation starting from the touch position on the outer peripheral portion 121, the processor 11 reads “candidate” as the first conversion candidate and outputs “Koho” from the speaker 13.

  Here, “the processor 11 reads out the conversion candidate” means “the processor 11 converts the audio data corresponding to the conversion candidate reading into an analog signal and inputs the analog signal to the speaker 13”. Each audio data corresponding to the reading of each conversion candidate is stored in the memory 14.

  Next, at time t3 in FIG. 3, the user further performs a downward sliding operation continuously from the sliding operation at time t2, and the processor 11 detects the downward sliding operation. When the processor 11 detects a downward sliding operation at time t3 following the leftward sliding operation at time t2, the processor 11 changes the conversion candidate to be read out from the first conversion candidate to the second conversion candidate. . That is, when the processor 11 detects a further downward slide operation from the left slide operation at time t2, the processor 11 reads “Kohoku Ward” as the second conversion candidate and reads “ "Hoku" is output.

  Next, at time t4 in FIG. 3, two cases are assumed. That is, a first case where the user performs a downward sliding operation in the same direction as time t3, and a second case where the user performs an upward sliding operation in the opposite direction to time t3.

  In the first case, at time t4, the user performs a downward sliding operation continuously from the sliding operation at time t3, and the processor 11 detects the downward sliding operation. When the processor 11 detects the downward sliding operation in the same direction as the sliding operation at the time t3 at the time t4 following the downward sliding operation at the time t3, the processor 11 sets the second conversion candidate to be read out. The conversion candidate is changed to the third conversion candidate. That is, when the processor 11 detects the second downward sliding operation after the first downward sliding operation at the time t3 at the time t4, the processor 11 is the third conversion candidate “Gazette”. Is output from the speaker 13.

  On the other hand, in the second case, at time t4, the user performs a further upward sliding operation continuously from the sliding operation at time t3, and the processor 11 detects this upward sliding operation. When the processor 11 detects a downward sliding operation at the time t3, and detects an upward sliding operation in the opposite direction to the sliding operation at the time t3 at the time t4, the processor 11 sets the second conversion candidate to be read out. The conversion candidate is changed to the first conversion candidate. That is, at time t4, when the processor 11 detects a further upward sliding operation from the downward sliding operation at time t3, the processor 11 returns to the first conversion candidate, reads “candidate”, and reads the speaker. 13 outputs “Koho”.

  That is, in this embodiment, the downward sliding operation is an operation for causing the processor 11 to read out the next conversion candidate, and the upward sliding operation is an operation for causing the processor 11 to read out the previous conversion candidate. It is.

  Note that the correspondence relationship between the direction of the slide operation and the reading order of the conversion candidates is not limited to the above. For example, the slide operation for causing the processor 11 to read out the first conversion candidate is not limited as long as the touch position on the outer peripheral portion 121 is a starting point. Further, for example, a leftward slide operation may be an operation for causing the processor 11 to read out the next conversion candidate, and a rightward slide operation may be an operation for causing the processor 11 to read out the previous conversion candidate. In addition, the relationship between the vertical direction or the horizontal direction and the conversion candidate reading order (ascending order or descending order) may be opposite to the above. The same applies to the following description.

<Handling of portable electronic devices>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining processing of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment.

  First, the processor 11 determines whether or not a conversion candidate is displayed in the area 12B of the touch panel 12 (step S201). When the conversion candidate is not displayed in the area 12B (step S201: No), the processor 11 repeats the determination in step S201.

  When the conversion candidate is displayed in the area 12B (step S201: Yes), the processor 11 determines whether or not a touch on the outer peripheral portion 121 of the touch panel 12 has been detected (step S202). When a touch on the outer periphery 121 is not detected (step S202: No), the process returns to step S201.

  When a touch on the outer peripheral part 121 is detected (step S202: Yes), the process proceeds to step S203 and shifts to the conversion candidate reading mode. Henceforth, the process of step S203 to S211 is a process in conversion candidate reading-out mode.

  In step S203, the processor 11 determines whether or not a slide operation has been detected (step S203). When a slide operation is not detected in step S203 (step S203: No), the process returns to step S201.

  When a slide operation is detected in step S203 (step S203: Yes), the processor 11 reads out the first conversion candidate (step S204).

  Next, the processor 11 determines whether or not a downward sliding operation is detected (step S205). When a downward slide operation is not detected in step S205 (step S205: No), the processes in steps S206 and S207 are not performed, and the process proceeds to step S208.

  When a downward sliding operation is detected in step S205 (step S205: Yes), the processor 11 determines whether or not there is a conversion candidate that is one after the conversion candidate read out previously (step S206). When there is no next conversion candidate (step S206: No), the process of step S207 is not performed, and the process proceeds to step S208.

  When the next conversion candidate exists in step S206 (step S206: Yes), the processor 11 reads out the next conversion candidate (step S207).

  Next, the processor 11 determines whether or not an upward slide operation has been detected (step S208). When an upward slide operation is not detected in step S208 (step S208: No), the processes in steps S209 and S210 are not performed, and the process proceeds to step S211.

  When an upward sliding operation is detected in step S208 (step S208: Yes), the processor 11 determines whether there is a conversion candidate immediately before the conversion candidate read out last time (step S209). If there is no previous conversion candidate (step S209: No), the process of step S210 is not performed, and the process proceeds to step S211.

  When there is a previous conversion candidate in step S209 (step S209: Yes), the processor 11 reads out the previous conversion candidate (step S210).

  Next, the processor 11 determines whether or not a “confirmation operation” for confirming the converted character has been performed (step S211). When the confirmation operation is not performed (step S211: No), the process returns to step S205.

  Here, the “determining operation” is, for example, an operation of releasing an object that has been touching the touch panel 12 from the touch panel 12 or an operation of pressing the touch panel 12 by a predetermined amount. Further, the processor 11 may determine that the confirmation operation has been performed when a predetermined time has elapsed without performing the slide operation after reading out the conversion candidate.

  When the confirming operation is performed in step S211 (step S211: Yes), the process proceeds to step S212 to exit from the conversion candidate reading mode. That is, when the confirmation operation is performed in step S211 (step S211: Yes), the processor 11 copies and displays the conversion candidate read last in the conversion candidate reading mode in the region 12A as a character after confirmation ( Step S212).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the portable electronic device 10 includes the processor 11 and the touch panel 12. When the processor 11 detects a touch on the outer peripheral portion 121 of the touch panel 12 in a state where the conversion candidates for the input characters are displayed on the touch panel 12, the processor 11 shifts to the conversion candidate reading mode.

  Thus, the user can issue a conversion candidate reading instruction by touching the outer peripheral portion 121 of the touch panel 12, so that a specific key for issuing a conversion candidate reading instruction becomes unnecessary. Moreover, since the outer peripheral part 121 of the touch panel 12 is in contact with the end of the casing of the portable electronic device 10, even the visually impaired can easily recognize the outer peripheral part 121 by touch. Therefore, even when a visually handicapped person instructs the conversion candidate to be read out, an erroneous operation such as touching a key different from a specific key can be prevented. That is, the conversion candidate reading instruction is performed by touching the outer peripheral portion 121, so that a visually impaired person can accurately perform the conversion candidate reading instruction operation. Moreover, since the outer peripheral part 121 is easy to recognize by tactile sense and exists on the four sides of the surface of the mobile electronic device 10, the touch to the outer peripheral part 121 is compared to the touch to a specific key among a plurality of keys. It can be done easily. Thus, for example, by setting an area that is touched with the same finger while touching the edge of the casing of the mobile electronic device 10 as the outer peripheral portion 121, even a visually handicapped person can easily give instructions for reading conversion candidates. be able to. Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the operability when reading out conversion candidates.

  Further, the processor 11 reads a conversion candidate when a slide operation is performed on the touch panel 12 in the conversion candidate reading mode.

  Thereby, since the slide operation is an operation that does not depend on a specific key, even a visually handicapped person can easily read out conversion candidates. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the operability when reading out conversion candidates.

  Further, the processor 11 changes a conversion candidate to be read out according to the direction of the slide operation among the plurality of conversion candidates displayed on the touch panel 12.

  Thus, the user can change the conversion candidate to be read out only by changing the direction of the slide operation in a series of slide operations in which the conversion candidate is read out. For this reason, the conversion candidate reading order (ascending order or descending order) can be changed by an intuitively easy-to-understand operation of changing the direction of the slide operation. Therefore, the operability when reading out conversion candidates can be further improved.

[Other embodiments]
Each process in the above description in the portable electronic device 10 may be realized by causing the processor 11 to execute a program corresponding to each process. For example, a program corresponding to each process in the above description may be stored in the memory 14, and each program may be read from the memory 14 by the processor 11 and executed.

10 portable electronic device 11 processor 12 touch panel 13 speaker 14 memory

Claims (4)

A processor and a touch panel;
The processor shifts to a mode in which the conversion candidate is read out when a touch on the outer peripheral portion of the touch panel is detected in a state where the conversion candidate for the input character is displayed on the touch panel.
Portable electronic device. The processor reads the conversion candidate when a slide operation is performed on the touch panel in the mode.
The portable electronic device according to claim 1. In the plurality of conversion candidates displayed on the touch panel, the processor changes a conversion candidate to be read out according to a direction of the slide operation.
The portable electronic device according to claim 2. Display conversion candidates for the entered characters on the touch panel,
When the touch on the outer peripheral portion of the touch panel is detected in a state where the conversion candidate is displayed on the touch panel, the mode shifts to a mode for reading the conversion candidate.
A character input support program that causes a processor to execute processing.

Images