JP6801329B2 - Image forming device, information processing device and information processing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an information processing apparatus and an information processing system.

For example, in Patent Document 1, information on the position, elapsed time, and moving speed at which an object used for touch exists before the touch panel is finally touched is optically acquired, and finally. A technique for acquiring a candidate for an object that can be selected other than the selected object is disclosed. Further, in Patent Document 1, advertisement information, word-of-mouth information, and word-of-mouth information are described based on the information of an object that exists near the path through which the finger as an object slowly passes or near the point where the finger temporarily exists. Techniques for generating evaluation information are also disclosed.

JP 2015-32100

Some information processing devices present guide information about various operation buttons to be mounted in response to a user's request. The movement of the user's finger may be used for the display of the guide information, but the display of the guide information is not stable because the movement of the user's finger varies.

An object of the present invention is to improve the operability of the user as compared with the case where the guide information is displayed without specifying the button in front of the line of sight.

The invention of claim 1 includes a display unit for displaying information, the viewing information detection means for obtaining information about the user's line of sight, it is assigned each of the plurality of processes, allocated by being pressed to a user When information indicating that the line of sight is directed to a specific button among the plurality of buttons is acquired by the operation reception unit having a plurality of buttons for receiving the processed processing and the line-of-sight information detecting means, the specific button is obtained. The control means is provided with a control means for controlling the display of the guide information related to the process corresponding to the above, and the control means increases the time until the guide information is displayed when the button to which the user is looking is different. the image forming apparatus you wherein a varied.
The invention according to claim 2 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means has a different time until the guide information is displayed according to the usage frequency information of each button. ..
The invention according to claim 3 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays guide information having contents determined according to the usage frequency information of each button .
The invention according to claim 4 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the control means updates the usage frequency information based on the number of times each button is used or the cumulative usage time.
The invention according to claim 5 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays guide information for some buttons .
The invention according to claim 6 is assigned a display unit for displaying information, a line-of-sight information detecting means for acquiring information on the line-of-sight of the user, and a plurality of processes, each of which is assigned and pressed by the user. When information indicating that the line of sight is directed to a specific button among the plurality of buttons is acquired by the operation reception unit having a plurality of buttons for receiving processing and the line-of-sight information detecting means, the specific button is used. A control means for controlling the display of guide information related to the corresponding processing is provided , and the control means may have different times until the guide information is displayed when the buttons to which the user is looking are different. an information processing apparatus characterized by causing.
The invention according to claim 7 is assigned a display unit for displaying information, a line-of-sight information detecting means for acquiring information on the line-of-sight of the user, and a plurality of processes, each of which is assigned and pressed by the user. When information indicating that the line of sight is directed to a specific button among the plurality of buttons is acquired by the operation reception unit having a plurality of buttons for receiving processing and the line-of-sight information detecting means, the specific button is used. A control means for controlling the display of guide information related to the corresponding process is provided , and the control means may have different times until the guide information is displayed when the buttons to which the user is looking are different. an information processing system that is characterized in that to.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the operability of the user can be improved as compared with the case where the guide information is displayed without specifying the button at the end of the line of sight.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operability of the user can be improved as compared with the case where the time until the guide information is displayed is uniform regardless of the frequency of use of each button by the user.
According to the invention of claim 3, the operability of the user can be improved as compared with the case where the content of the guide information is uniform regardless of the frequency of use of each button by the user.
According to the invention of claim 4, the operability of the user can be improved as compared with the case where the content of the guide information is uniform regardless of the frequency of use of each button by the user.
According to the invention of claim 5, the operability of the user can be improved as compared with the case where the button on which the guide information is displayed is not limited .
According to the invention of claim 6, the operability of the user can be improved as compared with the case where the guide information is displayed without specifying the button at the end of the line of sight .
According to the invention of claim 7, the operability of the user can be improved as compared with the case where the guide information is displayed without specifying the button in front of the line of sight .

It is a figure which showed the structural example of the image forming apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the case where the operation reception part is viewed from the front side. It is a block diagram which showed an example of the functional structure of a control part. It is a figure which shows the data structure example of a position information table. It is a figure which shows the example of the data structure of the usage frequency information table. It is a figure explaining the positional relationship of the position coordinate defined by the position information table, and the position information of a line of sight. It is a figure explaining the customization of the position information table. It is a flowchart which showed an example of the procedure of the process executed by the image forming apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display example of the guide information when the operation reception part is a copy start button.

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

<Configuration of image forming apparatus>
First, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, each functional unit constituting the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is connected to a bus 101, and data is exchanged via the bus 101.

The display unit 106 displays various information about the image forming apparatus 10. For example, the display unit 106 is composed of a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display that displays a plurality of items selected by the user when the user operates the image forming apparatus 10. A touch panel sensor is arranged on the surface of the display unit 106 in the present embodiment, and the selection of a specific item is detected when the user's finger touches the touch panel sensor. In the case of this embodiment, the display unit 106 is arranged at the center of the operation panel.

The operation reception unit 107 receives an operation from the user. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example when the operation reception unit 107 is viewed from the front side. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation receiving unit 107 is displayed on the physical buttons, switches and other movable members, and the display unit 106 arranged on the operation panel provided on the front side (front side) of the image forming apparatus 10. Including operation buttons to be performed. The operation reception unit 107 includes, for example, a copy start button, a scan button, and an IP setting button. The position of the operation panel is not limited to the front side of the image forming apparatus 10.

FIG. 2 simply shows only a part of the operation reception unit 107 arranged on the operation panel. The individual operation receiving units 107 are independently arranged on the operation panel, and all receive touch operations or push-down operations by the user. The operation receiving unit 107 in the present embodiment is assigned some function for controlling the image forming apparatus 10.

The image reading unit 108 is configured by a so-called scanner device, reads an image on a set document, and generates a scanned image (image data) of the document.

The image forming unit 109 as an example of the image forming means uses, for example, an electrophotographic method to form a toner image corresponding to the image data on a paper which is an example of a recording material. The image forming unit 109 may form an image by using another method such as an inkjet head method.

The communication unit 110 is connected to a communication line (not shown) and functions as a communication interface for communicating with other devices connected to the communication line. The communication interface includes, for example, a wired LAN interface and a wireless LAN interface.
The image processing unit 111 performs image processing such as color correction and gradation correction on the image represented by the image data.

The line-of-sight detection sensor 112 as an example of the line-of-sight detecting means detects the line of sight of the user who operates the image forming apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 is installed on the upper front portion of the image forming apparatus 10. The arrangement of the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and the arrangement position is arbitrary as long as the line-of-sight direction of the user who operates the operation reception unit 107 arranged on the operation panel can be detected.

The line-of-sight detection sensor 112 is arranged, for example, around the display unit 106 (for example, any of the left side, the right side, the upper side, and the lower side). The line-of-sight detection sensor 112 uses, for example, a sensor composed of an infrared LED (Light emitting diode) that emits infrared rays toward the user's face and an infrared camera that photographs the user's face irradiated with infrared rays. Sensors that use infrared rays use the position of the reflected light generated by the irradiation of the infrared LED on the cornea (corneal reflex) as a reference point, and the position of the pupil with respect to the position of the corneal reflex is in the direction in which the user's line of sight is directed. It is output as information (hereinafter referred to as user line-of-sight information).

As the line-of-sight detection sensor 112, for example, a sensor composed of a camera that captures visible light may be used. The sensor using visible light uses the photographed inner corner of the user's eye as a reference point, and outputs the position of the iris with respect to the inner corner of the eye as user's line-of-sight information. The fact that the iris of the left eye is far from the inner corner of the eye indicates that the user is looking at the left side, and the fact that the iris of the left eye is close to the inner corner of the eye indicates that the user is looking at the right side.

The storage unit 105 is configured by a storage device such as a hard disk device, and stores, for example, data received by the communication unit 110 and a read image (image data) generated by the image reading unit 108. Further, the storage unit 105 also stores the position information table 62A (FIG. 4) and the usage frequency information table 62B (FIG. 5) that the image forming apparatus 10 refers to when displaying the guide information. Details of these tables will be described later.

The control unit 60 as an example of the control means controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 10. The control unit 60 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 102, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 104.

The ROM 103 stores a program executed by the CPU 102. The CPU 102 reads the program stored in the ROM 103, uses the RAM 104 for the work area, and executes the program. When the program is executed by the CPU 102, each part of the image forming apparatus 10 is controlled by the CPU 102, and the image forming apparatus 10 forms an image on paper, for example, or reads a document to generate a scanned image of the original.

<Functional configuration of control unit>
Next, the functional configuration of the control unit 60 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the control unit 60. The control unit 60 includes a line-of-sight detection unit 61, a display control unit 62, a frequency management unit 63, and a user recognition unit 64.

The line-of-sight detection unit 61 acquires user line-of-sight information from the line-of-sight detection sensor 112. The line-of-sight detection unit 61 converts the user line-of-sight information into coordinate information on the operation panel (hereinafter, referred to as line-of-sight position information). The coordinate system of the line-of-sight position information here is the same as the coordinate system of the position information recorded in the position information table 62A described later. However, the two coordinate systems may be different as long as the relationship for transforming the two coordinate systems is known.

The display control unit 62 specifies the operation reception unit 107 corresponding to the position information of the line of sight, and causes the display unit 106 to display the guide information corresponding to the specified operation reception unit 107. In the case of the present embodiment, the display control unit 62 uses the position information table 62A and the usage frequency information table 62B to acquire the guide information corresponding to the specified operation reception unit 107. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of the position information table 62A. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of the usage frequency information table.

In the position information table 62A, regarding the operation reception unit 107 for which guide information is prepared, the corresponding function, the position information on the operation panel, the time used for detection (hereinafter referred to as the detection time), and the display unit 106 are displayed. The displayed guide information is associated and recorded. In addition, these correspondences are recorded for each user.

As described above, the functions recorded in the position information table 62A do not have to correspond to all the operation receiving units 107 arranged on the operation panel. That is, the correspondence relationship recorded in the position information table 62A may be the correspondence relationship for some operation reception units 107. FIG. 4 shows a copy start function, a scan start function, and an IP setting function as examples of the functions associated with the operation reception unit 107.

The position information on the operation panel is defined by the coordinate values (X, Y) and the range (Z) of the XY coordinate system. The coordinate values (X, Y) in the XY coordinate system give the center position of the operation reception unit 107. The range (Z) gives, for example, the radius of a circle centered on the coordinate values (X, Y). FIG. 6 describes the positional relationship between the position coordinates defined in the position information table 62A and the position information of the line of sight. The coordinate values (X, Y) are the center positions 71 of the buttons corresponding to the operation reception unit 107, and the range (Z) is the radius 73 of the circle 72 including the buttons corresponding to the operation reception unit 107.

The range (Z) includes the button corresponding to the operation reception unit 107, but is defined so as not to overlap the range (Z) that defines the area of other adjacent buttons. In the present embodiment, the outer edge of the range in which the button exists is defined by a rough circle, but it may be defined by another shape. For example, the outer edge of the button's existence range may be defined by a roughly square shape. In this case, the range is defined by the length from the center position 71 in the X direction and the length in the Y direction. Incidentally, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the coordinate values (x, y) corresponding to the line-of-sight position information 74 output from the line-of-sight detection unit 61 are included inside the circle 72.

Returning to the description of FIG. The detection time gives a threshold value for determining that the user's line of sight is continuously directed to a specific or one operation reception unit 107. In other words, the detection time is included in the condition to be satisfied in order to determine that the operation reception unit 107 is in the gaze state, that is, the position information on the operation panel corresponding to the operation reception unit 107 having the line-of-sight position information 74. Gives time for the state (eg, the state included in circle 72) to continue. When the line-of-sight position information 74 output from the line-of-sight detection unit 61 elapses the corresponding detection time, the display of the guide information is permitted.

In the case of the present embodiment, a plurality of detection times for one operation reception unit 107 are provided according to the degree of frequency of use of the operation reception unit 107. In the case of this embodiment, the degree of frequency of use is "low", "medium", and "high". The frequency of use may be one type, two types, or four or more types. The necessity of the guide display increases as the frequency of use of the operation reception unit 107 decreases. Therefore, the detection time t11 when the frequency of use is low is shorter than the detection time t12 when the frequency of use is medium (t11 <t12), and the detection time t12 when the frequency of use is high is smaller than the detection time t13 when the frequency of use is high. It is set short (t12 <t13).

The guide information is any or a combination of the contents of the functions assigned to the individual operation reception units 107, precautions for operation, operation procedures, and other information. One or more guide information is prepared for one operation reception unit 107. In the present embodiment, three types of guide information, "detailed", "normal", and "simple", are prepared according to the degree of frequency of use. Here, the difference between "detailed", "normal", and "simple" depends on the number of information included in the guide information, the expression style of the information, the difference in the length of the explanation, and the like.

In general, simpler guide information is assigned to the operation reception unit 107 that is used more frequently, and detailed guide information is assigned to the operation reception unit 107 that is used less frequently. The user may be familiar with the functions and operation methods of the frequently used operation reception unit 107, whereas the user may not know the functions and operation methods of the infrequently used operation reception unit 107. Because there are many. The number of guide information prepared and the number of frequency classifications may be the same, but may be different. For example, even if there are three types of frequency of use, the number of guide information prepared for a certain operation reception unit 107 may be two types.

In the present embodiment, position information, detection time, and guide information are associated with one operation reception unit 107, but in the simplest control example, one operation reception unit 107 is associated with each other. It may be in the form of associating only the position information with one type of guide information. If the display content of the guide information is switched according to the frequency of use as in the present embodiment, the actual usage of the user and the content of the provided guide information match, and the operability for the user is improved. ..

Further, in the present embodiment, the position information, the guide information, and the detection time are associated with one operation reception unit 107, but one type of detection time may be associated regardless of the frequency of use.

Further, in the case of the present embodiment, the association of the guide information with each operation reception unit 107 is prepared for each user. Since the actual usage of the operation reception unit 107 differs for each user, the operability for each user is improved by managing the detection time and the content of the guide information for each user.

The frequency of use here is recorded in the frequency of use information table 62B shown in FIG. The usage frequency information table 62B is managed by the usage frequency management unit 63.

The usage frequency management unit 63 manages the usage count and the cumulative usage time (hereinafter, referred to as the cumulative time) of each operation reception unit 107 for each user, and determines the usage frequency based on the usage count and the cumulative time. .. The usage frequency management unit 63 determines the usage frequency by using a calculation formula, a logical formula, a table, or the like. For example, if the number of times of use is larger than the number of times threshold and the cumulative time is larger than the time threshold, the frequency of use is set to "high", and if the number of times of use is smaller than the number of times threshold and the cumulative time is smaller than the time threshold, it is used. Set the frequency to "low", and in other cases, set the frequency of use to "medium".

Incidentally, the usage frequency management unit 63 may input only the usage time at each usage time corresponding to each operation reception unit 107 for each user, and calculate the cumulative time by internal calculation. A calculation formula and a table for determining the frequency of use may be prepared for each operation reception unit 107. Further, in the example of FIG. 5, the frequency of use is calculated using both the number of times of use and the cumulative time, but it may be calculated using only one of them.

The above-mentioned position information table 62A (FIG. 4) is prepared as, for example, an initial table. In the present embodiment, a mechanism for the user to rewrite the recorded contents of the position information table 62A prepared in advance is prepared. It should be noted that a mechanism may be prepared for changing the display mode of the guide information to the content specified by the user while keeping the recorded content of the position information table 62A as it is.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating customization of the position information table. FIG. 7 shows an example of a customization screen 200 for customizing the output mode of guide information for the copy start button. Of course, the corresponding customization screen 200 is used for customizing the output mode of the guide information for the other buttons. The information input through the customization screen 200 is given to the display control unit 62 as customization information.

The customization screen 200 is displayed on the display unit 106 based on a user's instruction. On the customization screen 200, for example, a guide display button 201 for designating whether or not to display guide information, a detection time designation button 202, a guide information designation button 203, and a decision button 204 for confirming the designation are provided. Is displayed.

When the "Yes button" is selected in the guide display button 201, the display control unit 62 displays the guide information prepared in advance on the display unit 106, and when the "No button" is selected, the display control The unit 62 does not display the guide information prepared in advance.

When the automatic setting based on the frequency of use is selected by the designation button 202, the display control unit 62 determines the guide information to be displayed based on the position information table 62A (FIG. 4) and the frequency of use information table 62B (FIG. 5). Then, the determined guide information is displayed on the display unit 106.

When "short" is selected by the designation button 202, the display control unit 62 sets the determination time (detection time) used for displaying the guide information corresponding to the copy start button to 1 second. Further, the display control unit 62 sets the determination time (detection time) to 2 seconds when "normal" is selected by the designation button 202, and sets the determination time (detection time) to 2 seconds when "long" is selected. Detection time) is set to 5 seconds.

When the automatic setting based on the frequency of use is selected by the designation button 203, the display control unit 62 determines the guide information to be displayed based on the position information table 62A (FIG. 4) and the frequency information table 62B (FIG. 5). Then, the determined guide information is displayed on the display unit 106.

When "simple" is selected by the designation button 203, the display control unit 62 displays the guide information of the simplified version on the display unit 106, and when "normal" is selected, the guide information of the normal version is displayed. It is displayed on the display unit 106, and when "details" is selected, the guide information of the detailed version is displayed on the display unit 106.

The user recognition unit 64 authenticates the user who is operating the image forming apparatus 10. The user recognition unit 64 reads, for example, information for identifying a user stored in a portable card through a reading unit (not shown). In addition, the user recognition unit 64 may accept the user's selection of a user name through a touch panel operation, or may perform face recognition using the user's face image data captured by a camera (not shown). The authentication result is given from the user recognition unit 64 to the display control unit 62.

Each functional unit constituting the control unit 60 shown in FIG. 3 is realized by the cooperation of software and hardware resources. Specifically, when the image forming apparatus 10 is realized by the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 1, the OS (Operating System) program or application program stored in the ROM 103 is read into the RAM 104 and loaded into the CPU 102. When executed, each function such as the line-of-sight detection unit 61, the display control unit 62, the frequency of use management unit 63, and the user recognition unit 64 is realized.

<Procedure of processing executed by the image forming apparatus>
Next, the procedure of the processing executed by the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 10 repeatedly executes the process of the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the line-of-sight detection unit 61 inputs the user line-of-sight information from the line-of-sight detection sensor 112, the line-of-sight detection unit 61 outputs the coordinate information on the operation panel, that is, the line-of-sight position information to the display control unit 62. Next, the display control unit 62 determines whether or not the input position information of the line of sight matches the position information table 62A (step 101). Specifically, the display control unit 62 obtains the input position information of the line of sight and a plurality of positions recorded in the position information table 62A (that is, a range defined by (X, Y, Z)). By collating, it is determined whether or not there is a position that overlaps with the above-mentioned line-of-sight position information.

If a negative determination is made in step 101 (No), the display control unit 62 determines whether or not to end this process (step 104). The fact that the position corresponding to the position information of the line of sight does not exist in the position information table 62A means that the user is looking at a place other than the operation panel or is looking at the operation reception unit 107 in which the guide information is not registered. means.

On the other hand, the fact that the position corresponding to the position information of the line of sight exists in the position information table 62A means that the user is looking at the operation reception unit 107 in which the guide information is registered. In the following, the operation reception unit 107 whose position overlaps with the position information of the line of sight is referred to as a specific operation reception unit 107.

When a positive judgment is made in step 101 (in the case of Yes), the display control unit 62 specifies that the elapsed time since the line of sight was directed to the specific operation reception unit 107 is recorded in the position information table 62A. It is determined whether or not it matches the detection time of the operation reception unit 107 of the above, specifically, whether or not it is equal to or longer than the registered detection time (step 102). Information on the user who is operating the image forming apparatus 10 is given to the display control unit 62 in advance.

At this time, the display control unit 62 reads the usage frequency of the specific operation receiving unit 107 recorded for the specified user from the usage frequency information table 62B, and uses the detection time corresponding to the read usage frequency. .. For example, in the case of FIG. 5, when the user operating the image forming apparatus 10 is the user A and the specific operation receiving unit 107 is the copy start button, the frequency of use is “high”. Therefore, the display control unit 62 determines whether or not the elapsed time since the line of sight is directed to the specific operation reception unit 107 is the detection time t13 or more.

If a negative determination is made in step 102 (No), the display control unit 62 determines whether or not to end this process (step 104). This means that the time for the user to direct his / her line of sight to the specific operation reception unit 107 is short, and the display condition of the guide information is not satisfied.

On the other hand, when a positive determination is made in step 102 (in the case of Yes), the display control unit 62 outputs (displays) the guide information to the display unit 106 (step 103). FIG. 9 shows an example of displaying guide information when the specific operation reception unit 107 is the copy start button. By the way, according to the position information table 62A (FIG. 4), the guide information displayed when the copy start button is frequently used by the user A is a simplified version.

In the case of FIG. 9, the guide information states that the operation reception unit 107 to which the user is looking is a "copy start button", and it is necessary to set the original on the paper holding roller before pressing the copy start button. It is shown that there is. In the case of the present embodiment, the display control unit 62 stops the output of the guide information when a predetermined time elapses from the start of the display of the guide information, and determines whether or not to end the main process ( Step 104).

If a negative determination is made in step 104 (No), the display control unit 62 returns to step 101 and repeats the above-described operation. On the other hand, if an affirmative determination is made in step 104 (in the case of Yes), the display control unit 62 ends this process.

As described above, the control unit 60 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment determines whether or not the user is looking at a specific operation reception unit 107 on the operation panel, and obtains an affirmative result. If so, the guide information prepared in advance for the specific operation reception unit 107 is displayed on the display unit 106. Therefore, the operability of the user is improved as compared with the case where the guide information is displayed regardless of the line of sight (for example, when the touch panel operation is required).

Since the control unit 60 according to the present embodiment displays the guide information regarding the specific operation reception unit 107 that the user is interested in (that is, the line of sight is directed), as compared with the case where the user's line of sight information is not used. The operations required of the user are simplified and the operability of the user is improved.

Further, the control unit 60 according to the present embodiment is a guide regarding the operation reception unit 107 arranged on the operation panel regardless of whether the operation reception unit 107 is a physical button or an operation button on the display. Since the information is displayed, the operability of the user is improved.

The program that realizes the embodiment of the present invention can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, or by using a communication means such as the Internet. It may be downloaded to the image forming apparatus 10.

<Other device configurations>
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the position information table 62A and the usage frequency information table 62B are separately prepared has been described, but these tables may be managed as one table.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the display unit 106 is arranged at the center of the operation panel has been described, but the display unit 106 may be arranged at a place other than the center of the operation panel. Further, the display unit 106 may be arranged at a position different from that of the operation panel. For example, the liquid crystal display display device as the display unit 106 may be attached to the upper portion or the side portion of the apparatus main body.

In the above-described embodiment, when the user's line of sight is directed to each operation reception unit 107 on the operation panel, the guide information regarding each operation reception unit 107 is displayed, but the user's line of sight is displayed on the operation panel. Guide information prepared in advance may be displayed on condition that it is directed. In this case, the operation panel is an example of the operation reception unit 107. In this case, the position information recorded in the position information table 62A is information that distinguishes the operation panel constituting the image forming apparatus 10 from other areas.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 is built in the image forming device 10 has been described, but the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 may be configured to be externally connected to the image forming device 10. For example, the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 as an external device may be arranged near the operation panel. However, the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 that is externally connected is arranged at a position that detects the line of sight of the user who operates the operation reception unit 107.

When the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 is externally connected, an initial adjustment process for accurately matching the user line-of-sight information output from the externally connected line-of-sight detection sensor 112 with the coordinate information on the operation panel is required. For example, according to the guidance displayed on the display unit 106 or the guidance by voice, the user is made to visually recognize a plurality of buttons on the operation panel in order, and the user's line-of-sight information acquired at that time and the coordinates of the corresponding button on the operation panel are used. The method of recording the relationship between the above and creating a rule for converting the user's line-of-sight information into the coordinates on the operation panel is adopted. The control unit 60 executes this initial adjustment process.

In the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 has been described on the premise of an apparatus having a plurality of functions such as a copy start function, a scanner function, a printing function, and a fax function, but one or some of these functions. It may be a device having. Of course, the image forming apparatus 10 may have functions other than the above-mentioned copy start function, scanner function, printing function, and fax function.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the touch panel sensor is arranged on the surface side of the display unit 106 of the image forming apparatus 10 has been described, but the control unit 60 of the present embodiment is used for image forming without the touch panel sensor. It may be used in the device 10.

In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 60, the display unit 106, the display control unit 62, and the like may be used not only in the image forming device but also in various information processing devices.

The image forming apparatus 10 in the above-described embodiment may be realized as an information processing system in which a plurality of independent devices are combined. The example of externally connecting the line-of-sight detection sensor 112 to the image forming apparatus 10 is an example of an information processing system.

In the above-described embodiment, whether the position information table 62A is used to display the guide information based on whether or not the time when the user's line of sight is stationary at the position of each operation reception unit 107 exceeds the detection time. Although it is determined whether or not the user's line of sight is determined, the movement or locus of the line of sight may be used until the user's line of sight continues to be stationary at the position of the specific operation reception unit 107.

It is known that the user's line of sight is repeatedly directed to the position of the operation receiving unit 107 to be watched even if the stationary state ahead of the user's line of sight does not continue for the detection time or longer. Therefore, the display control unit 62 may monitor the locus of the user's line of sight and display the guide information regarding the operation reception unit 107 at the position where the trajectories overlap many times. In this case, for example, when the number of times the loci overlap is equal to or greater than the corresponding threshold value, the guide information regarding the corresponding operation reception unit 107 may be displayed.

In the above-described embodiment, whether the position information table 62A is used to display the guide information based on whether or not the time when the user's line of sight is stationary at the position of each operation reception unit 107 exceeds the detection time. Although it is determined whether or not the detection time is determined, the detection time may be a cumulative value of the time when the line of sight is directed to the position of each operation reception unit 107.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is clear from the description of the scope of claims that the above-described embodiment with various modifications or improvements is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

10 ... image forming device, 60 ... control unit, 61 ... line-of-sight detection unit, 62 ... display control unit, 62A ... position information table, 62B ... usage frequency information table, 63 ... usage frequency management unit, 64 ... user recognition unit, 106 ... Display unit, 109 ... Image forming unit, 112 ... Line-of-sight detection sensor

Claims (7)

A display unit for displaying the information,
A line-of-sight information detecting means for acquiring information about the user's line of sight,
An operation reception unit that has a plurality of buttons that are assigned to each of a plurality of processes and receive the assigned processes when pressed by the user .
When information indicating that the line of sight is directed to a specific button among the plurality of buttons is acquired by the line-of-sight information detecting means, guide information regarding processing corresponding to the specific button is displayed on the display unit. Control means to control and
Equipped with a,
The control means makes the time until the guide information is displayed different when the button to which the user is looking is different.
The image forming apparatus shall be the features. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control means has a different time until the guide information is displayed according to the usage frequency information of each button . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays guide information having contents determined according to the usage frequency information of each button . The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the control means updates the usage frequency information based on the number of times each button is used or the cumulative usage time. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays guide information for some buttons . A display unit that displays information and
A line-of-sight information detecting means for acquiring information about the user's line of sight,
An operation reception unit that has a plurality of buttons that are assigned to each of a plurality of processes and receive the assigned processes when pressed by the user .
When information indicating that the line of sight is directed to a specific button among the plurality of buttons is acquired by the line-of-sight information detecting means, guide information regarding processing corresponding to the specific button is displayed on the display unit. Control means to control and
Equipped with a,
The control means makes the time until the guide information is displayed different when the button to which the user is looking is different.
The information processing apparatus shall be the feature. A display unit that displays information and
A line-of-sight information detecting means for acquiring information about the user's line of sight,
An operation reception unit that has a plurality of buttons that are assigned to each of a plurality of processes and receive the assigned processes when pressed by the user .
When information indicating that the line of sight is directed to a specific button among the plurality of buttons is acquired by the line-of-sight information detecting means, guide information regarding processing corresponding to the specific button is displayed on the display unit. Control means to control and
Equipped with a,
The control means makes the time until the guide information is displayed different when the button to which the user is looking is different.
Information processing system shall be the feature.

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