JP6539118B2 - OPERATION SUPPORT DEVICE, OPERATION SUPPORT SYSTEM, AND OPERATION SUPPORT METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation support apparatus, an operation support system, and an operation support method suitable for an apparatus that performs an operation using a hierarchical menu.

  In recent years, portable devices with a photographing function such as digital cameras have become widespread. Some of the photographing devices of this type have a display unit and have a function of displaying a photographed image. In addition, there is also a display in which a menu screen is displayed on the display unit to facilitate the operation of the photographing device. In order to further improve operability, a touch panel may be disposed on the display unit, and an operation of the photographing apparatus may be performed by a touch operation on the touch panel.

  Some devices having such a display unit display mechanical operation of the device to guide the operation. For example, in Patent Document 1, by operating a part of the external view of the device displayed on the display unit through the touch panel, the setting regarding the operation of the part configuring the part of the external view of the operated device is performed. Techniques have been proposed to switch to a display screen to perform. According to this proposal, the user does not need to remember the operation, and may perform the operation according to the guidance.

  However, the proposal of Patent Document 1 merely supports the operation regarding one function of setting the operation of the part that constitutes a part of the external view of the operation target device, and the function is extremely numerous. From among the above, it is not possible to effectively guide the operation for selecting a function that the user intentionally knows.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-15400

  Conventionally, there is a method of hierarchically arranging menus in order to simplify the operation. The user can perform desired operations by sequentially selecting the menu from the upper hierarchy to the lower hierarchy, and the operation can be simplified. However, when the mode to be selected is enormous, the operation may be complicated or it may be more difficult to reach the target operation with a menu having a simple hierarchical structure.

  Therefore, there is also a system in which selectable menus can be easily understood by using a mechanism such as a switch for selection. For example, in some digital cameras, function selection is hierarchized and a mode dial for function selection of the highest hierarchy is provided. By the user performing the operation of selecting the function of the highest hierarchy by turning the mode dial, it becomes easier for the user to understand that the function of the highest hierarchy to which the intended function belongs is selected, and as a result, the selection operation Is easy to understand.

  However, in recent years, the number of functions to be selected is further increased after the top mode is selected due to the advancement of functions and multifunctionalization, and the selection of modes, the selection of various functions, the specification of various settings necessary for photographing, etc. Is extremely complicated. Therefore, in order to perform the selection and setting operations desired by the user, it is necessary to sufficiently master the operation of the apparatus.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an operation support device, an operation support system, and an operation support method which can effectively support the operation to the user.

An operation support apparatus according to the present invention includes an operation mechanism for selecting a first mode of a plurality of first modes included in a first layer , displaced according to user operation, and a user based on user input A plurality of first units included in a hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy regardless of which of the acquisition unit for acquiring request information and which of the first modes is selected by the operation mechanism at the time of the user input the one second mode of the of the two modes or tried specified the user determines based on the above user request information specifying the second mode corresponding to the user input, and identify the second mode is determined belongs to one of the first mode, the specified second of the determined the first mode and the mode belongs Therefore selected by the user operation against the above operating mechanism The case comprises a control unit for setting a second mode specified above corresponding to the user request information.

An operation support system according to the present invention includes a control target device having an operation mechanism which shifts a state according to a user operation and selects one of a plurality of first modes included in a first hierarchy. Regardless of whether the acquisition unit acquires user request information based on user input and which first mode is selected by the operation mechanism at the time of user input, it is included in a hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy. try to specify one second mode of the plurality of second mode was whether the then determined based on the user request information specifying the second mode corresponding to the user input, identified a determining unit belongs to the second mode is either the first mode, the control apparatus having the above specified second mode belongs been judged the first mode described above If the result selected by the user operation against the work mechanism comprises a control unit for setting a second mode specified above corresponding to the user request information.

The operation support method according to the present invention is based on the steps of: selecting a first one of a plurality of first modes included in a first hierarchy by an operating mechanism which is displaced according to a user operation; and based on user input Regardless of whether the first step is selected by the operation mechanism at the time of the user input , an acquisition step of acquiring user request information, a plurality of first layers included in a hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy are selected . second mode identified with or tried to specify one second mode of the of the two modes for specifying the second mode corresponding to the user input to determine based on the above user request information There a determination step of determining belongs to the first mode, the specified second mode and the determined said first mode belongs to the operating mechanism If the result is selected in the user operation of, the anda control step of setting a second mode specified above corresponding to the user request information.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively support the operation to the user.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a photographing apparatus into which an operation support apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is incorporated. Explanatory drawing which shows the external appearance of the imaging device 1 of FIG. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the mode dial 22 in FIG. 2A. The flowchart for demonstrating camera control. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that it image | photographs. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a screen display. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a screen display. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a screen display. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a screen display. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a screen display. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing control in the second embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the screen display in 2nd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the screen display in 2nd Embodiment.

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

First Embodiment
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a photographing apparatus into which an operation support apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is incorporated. In the present embodiment, the photographing device which is the device to be controlled is a device which can be selected by an item in which a plurality of modes realizing the predetermined functions are hierarchized, and the operation support device in the present embodiment is a predetermined one. In order to select the mode of the second layer, an explicit selection operation by the user is required, and the mode lower than the second layer is automatically set based on the user input. It effectively guides the operation for selecting a function that you know. The present embodiment is an example in which the explicit selection operation by the user can be performed only by the operation mechanism accompanied by the state displacement, but this explicit selection operation does not require the state displacement. It may be made possible by the operation unit of

  The mode in the control target device is for realizing each function of the control target device. For example, one or more commands for controlling the control target device and various parameters (setting values) may be included in each portion of the control target device. It is realized by setting to.

  In FIG. 1, the imaging device 1 is provided with an imaging unit 2. The imaging unit 2 includes an imaging device (not shown) such as a CCD or a CMOS sensor, and a lens unit 3 for guiding an optical image of a subject to the imaging surface of the imaging device. The lens unit 3 is provided with a lens or the like (not shown) for zooming and focusing, and these lenses are driven and controlled by the control unit 11 of the main body unit 10.

  The control unit 11 can be configured, for example, by a processor such as a CPU (not shown) that performs camera control by controlling each unit according to a program stored in a memory (not shown). The imaging control unit 11 a of the control unit 11 outputs a drive signal of the imaging element to the imaging unit 2 to control the shutter speed, the exposure time, and the like, and reads the captured image from the imaging unit 2. The image processing unit 11 b of the control unit 11 performs predetermined signal processing, for example, color adjustment processing, matrix conversion processing, noise removal processing, and various other signal processing on the read captured image.

  The display control unit 11 e of the control unit 11 executes various processes related to display. The display control unit 11 e can provide the display unit 16 with a photographed image after signal processing. The display unit 16 has a display screen such as an LCD, and displays an image given by the display control unit 11e. The display control unit 11e can also display various menu displays and the like on the display screen 16b (see FIG. 4) of the display unit 16. Note that the display screen 16b of the display unit 16 is provided along the back of the case 10a in which the main unit 10 is housed (see FIG. 4), and the photographer can view the display screen 16b of the display unit 16 at the time of shooting. The displayed through image can be confirmed, and the photographing operation can be performed while confirming the through image.

  The control unit 11 is provided with an operation determination unit 11 f. The operation determination unit 11 f is configured to receive a user operation on the operation unit 18 including a shutter button, a function button, various switches such as shooting mode setting, and the like (not shown). The control unit 11 controls each unit based on the determination result of the operation determination unit 11 f.

  The control unit 11 can perform compression processing on the captured image after the various signal processing, and can give the image after compression to the recording unit 4 for recording.

  Further, the control unit 11 is provided with a communication control unit 11g. The communication control unit 11g controls the communication unit 19, communicates with an external device, and can transmit and receive data. The communication unit 19 can communicate with an external device via a predetermined transmission path such as Wifi (registered trademark).

  In the present embodiment, the operation unit 18 includes a displacement operation unit 18a having an operation mechanism accompanied by a state displacement, and the other non-displacement operation unit 18b. In the present embodiment, displacement operation unit 18a sets one mode from a plurality of modes included in a hierarchy (hereinafter referred to as operation request hierarchy) in which no mode is set unless there is an explicit selection operation by the user. Used for That is, the photographing device 1 can not select and set each mode of the operation request layer among the hierarchized modes without performing the selection operation by the displacement operation unit 18a.

  In addition, on the display screen of the display unit 16, a touch panel 16a which is one of the non-displacement operating units 18b is provided. The touch panel 16a can generate an operation signal according to the position on the display screen pointed by the user with a finger. The operation signal is supplied to the control unit 11. Thereby, the control unit 11 can detect the position on the display screen touched by the user and the slide operation in which the user slides the display screen with the finger, and can execute processing corresponding to the user operation. It has become.

  FIG. 2A is an explanatory view showing the appearance of the photographing device 1 of FIG. The photographing device 1 shown in FIG. 2A has a housing 10a in which the circuit of the main body 10 is housed, and a lens barrel 3a in which the lens portion 3 is housed. A shutter button 21 and a mode dial 22 that constitute the displacement operation unit 18a are provided on the top surface of the housing 10a. In the present embodiment, the mode dial 22 is an operating mechanism used for selecting and setting each mode of the operation request hierarchy.

FIG. 2B is an explanatory view for explaining the mode dial 22 in FIG. 2A. The mode dial 22 has a cylindrical shape, and is rotatably disposed on the upper surface of the housing 10a with the center of the circular surface as the center of rotation. On the surface of the mode dial 22, letters of Art, P, A, S, M, and Movie corresponding to each mode of the operation request hierarchy are displayed. By rotating the mode dial 22 so that one of these characters is located at the position corresponding to the mark 23, the mode associated with the character is selected and set. Art corresponds to an art filter mode for realizing an art filter, P corresponds to a program mode, A corresponds to an aperture priority mode, S corresponds to a shutter speed priority mode, and M corresponds to a manual mode , Movie corresponds to the movie mode. FIG. 2B shows that the art filter mode is selected.
Of course, the present invention is not limited to the dial operation, and the displacement operation unit 18a having an operation mechanism accompanied by state displacement may be a push switch such as a slide switch or a toggle switch. An operation involving state displacement may be expressed as an operation involving member displacement operation. According to the present invention, an acquisition step for acquiring user request information based on user input, a step for acquiring current device setting state, and a user According to an operation supporting method characterized by comprising a specifying step of specifying an operation guide accompanied by a member displacement operation of the device and a display step of displaying the specifying result from the difference between the request and the device setting state. It is possible to enhance the affinity between operations involving member displacement operation, which is an easy-to-understand human interface, and digital settings.

  In the present embodiment, an input unit 15 such as a microphone is provided to designate a predetermined mode for realizing a predetermined function of the photographing device 1. The input unit 15 is not limited to a microphone, and various input units that can specify a mode such as the touch panel 16a or a keyboard can be employed. The input unit 15 such as a microphone can output information (hereinafter, referred to as user request information) corresponding to designation of a mode or the like by the user to the control unit 11.

  The control unit 11 is provided with a demand acquisition unit 11 d. The request acquisition unit 11 d refers to the database 17 based on the user request information from the input unit 15 to determine the mode that the user intends to designate (hereinafter referred to as a user designation mode). When the input unit 15 is configured by a microphone, the request obtaining unit 11 d obtains user request information by voice recognition processing on the voice of the user. The database 17 stores various information regarding the mode of the photographing device 1. If the mode that completely matches the user request information by the user can be searched in the database 17, the demand acquisition unit 11 d determines that this mode is the user designated mode, and the information for setting the mode is the database 17. Read from If the request acquisition unit 11 d can not search the database 17 for a mode that completely matches the user request information by the user, the request acquisition unit 11 d may use list information of searchable modes or question information for the search from the database 17. It may be read out. The request acquisition unit 11 d controls the display control unit 11 e to cause the display unit 16 to display a display based on the read list information and the question information.

  If the demand acquisition part 11d determines the user designation | designated mode based on the user request information by a user, it will give the information for setting the said mode to the mode parameter setting part 11c. The mode / parameter setting unit 11 c refers to the database 17 to determine each mode necessary to set the user-specified mode, and determines the mode of the operation request hierarchy to which the user-specified mode belongs. The mode / parameter setting unit 11 c controls the display control unit 11 e to display a message (operation guide display) on the display screen of the display unit 16 so as to specify the mode of the determined operation request hierarchy.

  By the way, the user designation mode may not belong to the mode currently selected in the hierarchy higher than the hierarchy including the user designation mode designated by the user by voice input or the like. For example, when the aperture priority mode is set by the mode dial 22, it is assumed that the user designates a predetermined filter mode in the art filter mode by voice input. That is, the filter mode designated by the user is a mode in the art filter mode indicated by Art of the mode dial 22 and does not belong to the aperture priority mode indicated by A of the mode dial 22. Even in this case, it is possible to search for the mode in the control unit 11 and automatically change the mode of the selection request layer by software processing. For example, regardless of the setting of the mode dial 22, transition to a mode designated by the user is also conceivable. However, if this is done, the correspondence between the mode indicated by the mode dial 22 and the user-specified mode is not consistent, and the user is likely to misunderstand which mode is operating, resulting in confusion. As a result, there is a risk of causing an erroneous operation.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the mode of the operation request layer higher than the mode designated by the user through the input unit 15 can be changed only by the explicit operation by the user. This ensures the integrity of function selection. After mode change of the operation request hierarchy is performed, transition to the user designated mode designated by the user is performed.

  That is, the mode / parameter setting unit 11c indicates by the operation determination unit 11f or the like that the mode of the operation request hierarchy to which the user designated mode belongs is specified by the operation of the mode dial 22 for specifying the mode of the operation request hierarchy. If it is set, each unit is set so that the user designated mode is realized. The mode / parameter setting unit 11 c causes the recording unit 4 to record setting information for realizing the user designation mode.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining camera control, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state of photographing, and FIGS. 5 to 9 are explanatory views showing an example of screen display.

  In step S1 of FIG. 3, the control unit 11 determines whether a photographing mode is instructed. When the photographing mode is not instructed, the control unit 11 determines whether the reproduction mode is designated (step S31). When the reproduction mode is instructed, the control unit 11 reproduces the specified image in step S32. The control unit 11 determines whether or not the change of the reproduced image is instructed in step S33. When the change is instructed, the control unit 11 changes the image to the designated image and reproduces the image (step S34). When the reproduction mode is not instructed, the control unit 11 shifts to the communication mode, and determines in step S35 whether the image communication is designated. If image communication is specified, image communication is performed in step S36. If image communication is not specified, various data is downloaded as needed (step S37).

  On the other hand, when the photographing mode is instructed, the control unit 11 determines whether or not lens replacement has been performed in step S2. When lens exchange is performed, the control unit 11 performs lens communication with the imaging unit 2 to acquire information on the lens unit 3 and the imaging element of the imaging unit 2 and also according to the user operation. Then, the lens unit 3 and the imaging device are set (step S3).

  Next, in step S4, the control unit 11 causes the display unit 16 to display a live view of the captured image (through image) based on the image signal from the imaging unit 2.

  FIG. 4 shows the photographer 30 holding the case 10 a of the main body unit 10 with the right hand 31 and holding the case 10 a for photographing. A lens barrel 3a is provided on the front surface of a housing 10a of the main body unit 10, a display unit 16 is provided on the rear surface, and an input unit 15 such as a microphone is provided on the rear lower end. A mode dial 22 is disposed on the top surface of the housing 10a. When viewed from the back in this posture, as shown in FIG. 5, a live view image 35 is displayed on the display screen 16 b of the display unit 16. In the live view image 35, an image 36 of a person who is a subject and a help button display 37 are displayed.

  Next, in step S5, the control unit 11 determines whether a help operation has occurred. The help operation is an operation for the user to designate that the operation support is performed in the present embodiment, and the operation determination unit 11 f responds to, for example, the help button display 37 displayed on the display screen 16 b of the display unit 16. It is determined that the help operation has been performed by the touch operation. The operation determination unit 11f may determine that the help operation has been performed by an operation of a switch (not shown) provided on the housing 10a, an operation of pressing the mode dial 22, or the like.

  Now, it is assumed that the user desires a filter mode for filtering an image. If the user does not know the desired filter mode setting operation, the user performs the help operation. When the help operation by the user is performed, the request acquisition unit 11d of the control unit 11 is in a standby state for a request such as mode setting from the user, and when a request occurs, whether the request of the user can be determined in step S6 Determine For example, the user indicates by voice the desired filter mode. The input unit 15 acquires this voice and gives it to the demand acquisition unit 11 d. The request acquisition unit 11 d acquires user request information by voice recognition, and searches the database 17 based on the acquired user request information to determine the user designation mode.

  The input by the user's voice or the like may not directly designate the mode name, but may be a word or the like representing the feature of the predetermined mode. Even in this case, as the database 17 has information of these features, the request obtaining unit 11 d can specify the mode.

  Further, when there is no mode in the database 17 that matches the user request information by the user, the demand acquisition unit 11 d is a database 17 for displaying a list of searchable modes or a question based on the user request information. Are displayed on the display unit 16 (step S7). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the demand obtaining unit 11 d may display only the modes of the top sellers listed in the catalog of the photographing apparatus as a list of modes. Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the request obtaining unit 11 d may display a question for obtaining a mode in the form of a question from the request of the user on the display screen 16 b.

  If the demand acquiring unit 11 d can specify the mode (user designation mode) corresponding to the user request information by the user, the process proceeds to step S 8 to set the mode from the database 17. Information is acquired and given to the mode / parameter setting unit 11c. In the next step S9, the mode / parameter setting unit 11c determines, for the operation request layer, the difference between the user-specified mode and the current mode.

  That is, by referring to the database 17, the mode / parameter setting unit 11c determines each mode for selecting the user-specified mode, and determines the mode of the operation request hierarchy to which the user-specified mode belongs. The mode / parameter setting unit 11c controls the display control unit 11e to display the operation guide display on the display screen 16b of the display unit 16 so as to specify the mode of the determined operation request hierarchy (step S11).

  FIG. 7 shows an example of screen display in this case, and a dial display 22a corresponding to the mode dial 22 and a mark display 23a corresponding to the mark 23 are displayed on the display screen 16b. The state of the dial display 22a indicates the state in which the mode dial 22 should be set. That is, the example of FIG. 7 indicates that the mode dial 22 should be set to the art filter mode indicated by Art. The display screen 16b also displays a manual operation display 38 indicating that the mode dial 22 needs to be set manually. In FIG. 7, the state to be set of the mode dial 22 is displayed by the operation guide display. However, the state of both the currently set mode and the mode to be set may be displayed.

  The mode / parameter setting unit 11 c determines whether the user has changed the mode dial 22 to a corresponding mode, based on the output of the operation determination unit 11 f (step S 12). When the user rotates the mode dial 22 and sets the mode of the operation request hierarchy to which the mode designated by the user belongs to the input unit 15, the mode / parameter setting unit 11c shifts the process to step S13, and the user designated mode Change settings according to

  In the example of FIG. 3, when the user designation mode belongs to the mode of the current operation request hierarchy, the displacement operation of the mode dial 22 is unnecessary, so the process proceeds to step S13 without displaying the operation guide display. In order to make the user recognize the mode of the operation request layer, the mode / parameter setting unit 11 c displays that the user designated mode belongs to the mode of the current operation request layer, for example, “ A display such as “mode specification OK” may be displayed. In addition, even if the mode / parameter setting unit 11 c does not require the displacement operation of the mode dial 22, the mode / parameter setting unit 11 c temporarily rotates the mode dial 22 to return to the original position, or touches the OK button. Thereafter, the process may proceed to step S13, or an operation guide display may be displayed to prompt the user to perform these operations.

  FIG. 8 shows the screen display after the mode change to the user designation mode. On the display screen 16b, an image 41 obtained by applying the filter processing to the image 35 of FIG. 5 is displayed. The image 41 is obtained by performing predetermined image processing on the background portion of the image 36 of a person who is a subject. Further, on the display screen 16b, a display 39 indicating that the image processing in the filter mode indicated by Art 1 in the art filter mode is being performed is also displayed.

  As described above, by designating a vague function or the like such as a mode desired by the user or a photographing method desired to be set, a mode (user designated mode) for realizing the designated mode or function is automatically set. For example, if the user speaks "watercolor", the watercolor art mode is automatically set. In this case, with regard to mode setting of the operation request hierarchy, the user is made to operate explicitly to set the mode to which the user designated mode belongs, to deepen the understanding of the mode and operation method by the user, and erroneous operation Can be difficult to occur.

  In the next step S14, it is determined whether or not adjustment operation such as parameter setting is necessary for the mode to be set. If the mode / parameter setting unit 11c determines that the adjustment operation is unnecessary, the process proceeds to step S20, and the set mode and setting are recorded in the recording unit 4, and then the process proceeds to step S17. It will be in a standby state for shooting.

  If the mode / parameter setting unit 11c determines that the adjustment operation is necessary, the process proceeds to step S15 to display the operation assistance display. Next, the mode / parameter setting unit 11c receives an adjustment operation by the user (step S16), changes the mode / setting according to the adjustment operation (step S19), and records the change result in the recording unit 4 (step S20).

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the operation assistance display. The example of FIG. 9 shows an example in the case where the user utters, for example, "I want to brighten", and the operation assistance display 45 is displayed on the display screen 16b. The operation assistance display 45 includes a button display 46 for brightening the brightness and a button display 47 for darkening the brightness. By the user touching the button display 46, the brightness of the image can be brightened.

  In step S17, it is determined whether a shooting operation has been performed. For example, when still image shooting is instructed by a release button operation or the like, the control unit 11 performs shooting in step S18. That is, the control unit 11 performs signal processing on the captured image from the imaging unit 2 and compresses it, and then supplies the compressed image to the recording unit 4 to perform recording.

  In addition to the case where only one function of the photographing device 1 is realized, there may be a case where two or more settings such as the setting of the brightness of the image and the setting of the vividness of the image are realized simultaneously. In consideration of such a case, when there is a user input of "further", for example, in step S6, new settings may be performed while holding the settings up to the previous time.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the mode can be automatically set according to the user's input. For example, when the user desires photographing by “comparison for comparison,” the user may utter “comparison for comparison,” even when the user does not know the setting method for comparison for comparison. As a result, transition to a mode for realizing comparative synthesis automatically and setting are performed. In this case, in the present embodiment, the user is notified to the user of the mode of the operation request layer to which the comparative combination belongs, and the user explicitly operates the operation mechanism for specifying the mode of the operation request layer. The transition to the comparison mode is performed. Thereby, the consistency between the mode instructed by the operation mechanism and the actual mode can be obtained, the user can easily recognize the mode correctly, and erroneous operation can be reduced.

Second Embodiment
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, an example in which the operation support apparatus is provided in the photographing device which is the control target device is shown. The present embodiment is an example in which the operation support is performed by a control device capable of operating the control target device from the outside. For example, it is assumed that the control target device is the photographing device of FIG. In the present embodiment, the control target device may be any device as long as it can be controlled by the control device by communication with the control device. It is not limited to shooting equipment. For example, a photographing device in which the request acquisition unit 11 d in the photographing device in FIG. 1 and the database 17 and the like are omitted may be adopted.

  The control device 50 of FIG. 10 can be configured by, for example, another photographing device other than the control target device, and an information terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, or a personal computer. The control device 50 includes a control unit 51. The control unit 51 can be configured, for example, by a processor such as a CPU (not shown) that controls each part according to a program stored in a memory (not shown). The device communication unit 52 is controlled by the control unit 51, and can communicate with the communication unit of the control target device, for example, the communication unit 19 of FIG. 1, and the information from the control unit 51 is used as the control target device. While transmitting, it is possible to receive information from the control target device and give it to the control unit 51. In addition, the clock unit 53 generates time information and outputs the time information to the control unit 51.

  The control device 50 has a display control unit 55. The display control unit 55 is controlled by the control unit 51 to execute various processing related to display. For example, the display control unit 55 can cause the display unit 56 to display an image given from the control unit 51, various menu displays, and the like. The display unit 56 has a display screen such as an LCD, and displays an image given by the display control unit 55.

  The operation unit 54 can be configured by a switch (not shown) provided in the control device 50, a touch panel (not shown) provided on the display screen of the display unit 56, or the like. The touch panel can generate an operation signal according to the position on the display screen pointed by the user with a finger. This operation signal is supplied to the control unit 51. Thus, the control unit 51 can detect the position on the display screen touched by the user and the slide operation in which the user slides the display screen with the finger, and can execute processing corresponding to the user operation. It has become.

  The recording unit 57 is configured to record the information given from the control unit 51. In the present embodiment, the recording unit 57 can record the same information as the information held in the database 17 of FIG. 1, that is, the information on the mode of the control target device.

  The control device 50 is provided with a base station communication unit 58. The base station communication unit 58 can be connected to the network 60 via a predetermined transmission path, and can exchange information with the information source 61 via the base station 62 in the network 60. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the information source 61 sometimes holds information on the mode of the control target device.

  Further, the control device 50 is provided with a mobile phone function unit 59. The mobile telephone function unit 59 has, for example, a telephone function, a built-in camera function, an e-mail function, etc., but is not an essential function in the present embodiment.

  The condition analysis unit 51 a of the control unit 51 can receive information on the state of the control target device via the device communication unit 52 and analyze the state of the control target device. The coping determination unit 51b acquires user request information based on user input, and acquires information necessary for controlling the control target device from the recording unit 57 according to the analysis result of the condition of the control target device, or Alternatively, information necessary for controlling the control target device is acquired from the information source 61 via the base station communication unit 58. The coping determination unit 51 b is configured to generate control information for controlling the control target device based on the acquired information. The coping determination unit 51 b can transmit control information of the control target device to the control target device via the device communication unit 52.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 11 to FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing control in the second embodiment. In FIG. 11, the same steps as in FIG. 3 are assigned the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted. The flow in FIG. 11 shows camera control by the photographing device 1 and control device control by the control device 50. The arrow connecting the control flow of the camera control and the control flow of the control device control is communication by processing. It shows that it is done. 12 and 13 are explanatory views showing an example of screen display in the second embodiment.

  Now, it is assumed that the user performs setting of the photographing device 1 by the control device 50 such as a smartphone prior to photographing of a subject by the photographing device 1. In step S41, the control unit 51 of the control device 50 controls the display control unit 55 to display a mode display 71 for selecting a mode on the display screen 56a of the display unit 56.

  FIG. 12 shows this mode display 71. The mode display 71 displayed on the display screen 56a includes a button 71a for selecting a telephone mode, a button 71b for selecting an external camera mode, a button 71c for selecting an internal camera mode, and a button 71d for selecting a mail mode. . In the example of FIG. 12, the mode selected when the frame surrounding each button is a solid line is shown, and the broken line is a non-selection mode. The example of FIG. 12 shows that the external camera mode is selected.

  The control unit 51 determines whether or not the external camera mode is set by the output of the operation unit 54 (step S42). When a mode other than the external camera mode is set, the control unit 51 realizes a function corresponding to the mode selected in step S43.

  When the external camera mode is set, the control unit 51 controls the device communication unit 52 to perform camera communication (step S44). On the other hand, the control unit 11 of the photographing device 1 determines whether or not the camera communication mode is designated in step S51. When the camera communication mode is set, the communication control unit 11 g of the control unit 11 of the photographing device 1 causes the communication unit 19 to communicate with the device communication unit 52 of the control device 50, and the photographing device 1 Send various setting information indicating the camera status of. The setting information is recorded in, for example, the recording unit 4, and the communication control unit 11 g reads out the information on the camera state from the recording unit 4 and transmits the information to the control device 50.

  The condition analysis unit 51a of the control unit 51 of the control device 50 receives the camera condition information via the device communication unit 52, acquires the camera condition of the photographing device 1, and waits for a request by the user (step S45). It becomes. Now, for example, it is assumed that the user desires shooting in the watercolor art mode. In this case, the user inputs a request to the control device 50 by, for example, uttering “water color”. The handling determination unit 51b of the control device 50 acquires user request information based on the user's utterance, for example, by the mobile phone function unit 59.

  In the next step S47, the coping determination unit 51b determines whether or not the operation method for setting the photographing device 1 can be determined based on the user request information. For example, the handling determining unit 51b determines whether or not the operation method can be determined based on the information stored in the recording unit 57 regarding the setting method of the imaging device 1. If the determination is impossible, the coping determination unit 51b determines the operation method by net search (step S48). That is, the handling determination unit 51b is connected to the network 60 via the base station communication unit 58, and searches for the information held in the information source 61, thereby operating the photographing device 1 corresponding to the user request information. To get For example, when the situation analysis unit 51a determines the manufacturer of the photographing apparatus 1, the handling determination unit 51b accesses the website of the manufacturer to acquire an operation method corresponding to the user request information. .

  When acquiring the operation method corresponding to the user request information, the coping determination unit 51b proceeds to step S49 and controls the display control unit 55 to display the operation guide display on the display screen 56a of the display unit 56. The handling determination unit 51 b also acquires information for displaying the operation guide display from the recording unit 57 or the information source 61 on the network 60.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of the screen display in this case, and a dial display 22b corresponding to the mode dial 22 of the photographing device 1 and a mark display 23b corresponding to the mark 23 are displayed on the display screen 56a. . The state of the dial display 22b indicates the state in which the mode dial 22 should be set. That is, the example of FIG. 13 indicates that the mode dial 22 should be set to the art filter mode indicated by Art.

  The coping determination unit 51b transmits information necessary for setting the watercolor art mode as control information to the photographing device 1 (step S50). The control information also includes information on the mode of the operation request hierarchy. Further, the control information is constituted by a series of commands and parameters for controlling the photographing device 1 and the like.

  The mode / parameter setting unit 11 c of the photographing device 1 receives control information via the device communication unit 52 and the communication unit 19 of the control device 50 in step S53. The mode / parameter setting unit 11c determines in step S10 whether or not the state displacement operation of the mode dial 22 for selecting the mode of the operation request hierarchy is necessary, and if necessary, the user performs the process in step S12. It is determined whether the mode dial 22 has been changed to the corresponding mode. In the present embodiment, the operation guide display is displayed on the control device 50 and the operation guide display is omitted on the photographing device 1 side, but the operation guide display is also displayed on the display unit 16 of the photographing device 1. May be displayed. Alternatively, the operation guide display in the control device 50 may be omitted, and the operation guide display may be displayed only on the display unit 16 of the photographing device 1. The subsequent operation is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  In the example of FIG. 11, an example in which the processing corresponding to steps S5 to S9 and S11 of FIG. 3 is performed on the control device 50 side has been described. However, input processing for adjusting steps S14, S15 and S20, etc. The control device 50 may also execute the mode setting recording process and the like.

  Thus, also in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, an information terminal capable of searching using an information source on a network having a huge amount of information can be adopted as the control device, and a desired operation can be performed from the vague request of the user. It is easy to determine, and it is possible to perform the operation desired by the user more reliably.

  In the above embodiment, in step S12 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 11, it is not only determined whether or not the operation mechanism for selecting the operation request hierarchy is actually operated, but also by the operation of another operation unit. It is possible to determine whether the designated mode of the operation request hierarchy has been set. For example, when the mode dial 22 can be driven by a drive mechanism such as a motor, it is also possible to change the state of the mode dial 22 by an operation of a touch panel or the like that controls the drive mechanism or voice input. For example, the current mode and the mode to be set may be displayed on the operation guide display in steps S11 and S49, and the mode dial 22 may be rotated by a slide operation or the like on the guide display. Furthermore, in the case of indirectly operating the operation mechanism that selects the operation request hierarchy in this way, the original mode may be returned before setting the next mode.

  Furthermore, in each of the embodiments of the present invention, although the digital camera has been described as an apparatus for photographing, the camera may be a digital single-lens reflex camera or a compact digital camera, such as a video camera or a movie camera. Of course, it may be a camera for moving pictures, and further, it may be a camera built in a portable information terminal (PDA: Personal Digital Assist), such as a mobile phone or a smartphone. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to industrial inspection equipment and medical equipment.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as it is, and at the implementation stage, the constituent elements can be modified and embodied without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriate combinations of a plurality of components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components of all the components shown in the embodiment may be deleted. Furthermore, components in different embodiments may be combined as appropriate.

  In addition, with regard to the operation flow in the claims, the specification, and the drawings, it is essential to carry out in this order even if it is described using “first,” “next,” etc. for convenience. It does not mean. Further, it goes without saying that the respective steps constituting the operation flow can be appropriately omitted for portions which do not affect the essence of the invention.

Further, among the techniques described here, the control mainly described in the flowchart is often settable by a program, and may be stored in a recording medium or a recording unit. The recording method of the recording medium and the recording unit may be recorded at the time of product shipment, may use the distributed recording medium, or may be downloaded via the Internet.
[Supplementary Note 1]
An acquisition step of acquiring user request information based on user input;
Acquiring the current device setting state (signal from S52);
Specifying the operation guide that involves the member displacement operation of the device from the difference between the user request and the device setting state;
A display step for displaying the specific result;
The operation assistance method characterized by having.

    DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... imaging | photography apparatus, 2 ... imaging part, 4 ... recording part, 10 ... main-body part 11 ... control part, 11a ... imaging | photography control part, 11b ... image processing part, 11c ... mode parameter setting part, 11d ... request acquisition part 11e: display control unit 11f: operation determination unit 15: input unit 16: display unit 16a: touch panel 17: database 18: operation unit 18a: displacement operation unit 19: communication unit

Claims (12)

An operation mechanism which shifts a state according to a user operation to select one of a plurality of first modes included in the first layer;
An acquisition unit for acquiring user request information based on user input;
Regardless of which first mode is selected by the operation mechanism at the time of the user input, any one of the plurality of second modes included in layers lower than the first layer is selected . the bimodal or tried to specify the user determines based on the above user request information specifying the second mode corresponding to the user input, either the second mode identified above first determines whether belonging to the mode, the when thus selected by the user operation against the identified second above mode is determined to belong in the first mode the operating mechanism, corresponding to the user request information A controller configured to set the second mode specified above ;
An operation support apparatus comprising: The control unit may identify the second mode based on the above user request information Then, characterized in that to display the guide display for selecting the first mode in which second mode specified above belongs The operation support device according to claim 1. The operation support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit displays an image indicating a state displacement of the operation mechanism as the guide display. The operation support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the user request information based on a voice input of the user. The control unit, upon setting of the second mode specified above, the operation support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that for setting the set values based on user input. The operation support apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit causes the user to display an operation assistance display for setting a setting value based on the user input. A control target device having an operation mechanism which shifts a state according to a user operation and selects one of a plurality of first modes included in a first hierarchy;
An acquisition unit for acquiring user request information based on user input;
Regardless of which first mode is selected by the operation mechanism at the time of the user input, any second one of the plurality of second modes included in the layer lower than the first layer is selected . belongs or tried to specify the mode of the above is determined based on the user request information specifying the second mode corresponding to the user input, the second mode is either the first mode identified a determination section for determining a control apparatus having,
The if result selected by the user operation against the identified second mode and the determined said first mode is the operating mechanism belongs, the second mode specified above corresponding to the user request information The control unit to set
The operation assistance system characterized by having. The operation support system according to claim 7, wherein the determination unit determines a second mode based on the user request information by searching for a predetermined information source on the network. The control unit is provided in the control target device.
9. The operation support system according to claim 7, wherein the control device transmits control information for setting the specified second mode to the control unit. 10. The operation support system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the control unit displays a guide display for selecting the first mode to which the specified second mode belongs . . Selecting one of a plurality of first modes included in the first hierarchy by an operating mechanism which is displaced according to a user operation;
An acquisition step of acquiring user request information based on user input;
Regardless of which first mode is selected by the operation mechanism at the time of the user input, any second one of the plurality of second modes included in the layer lower than the first layer is selected . belongs or tried to specify the mode to the second mode is either of the first mode identified with identifying a second mode corresponding to the user input to determine based on the above user request information A determination step of determining
The if result is selected in the user operation against the identified second mode belongs been judged the first mode is the operating mechanism, a second mode specified above corresponding to the user request information Control step to set
The operation assistance method characterized by having. In the control step, identifying a second mode based on the above user request information Then, characterized in that to display the guide display for selecting the first mode in which second mode specified above belongs The operation support method according to claim 11.