JP7471782B2 - Program, electronic device, and method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a program, an electronic device, and a method, and in particular to a program, an electronic device, and a method executed in an electronic device equipped with a touch panel.

With recent improvements in touch panel technology, electronic devices that allow users to input via a user interface on a touch panel have become widespread. In games executed on electronic devices, instead of user input via a conventional physical controller, a form in which user input is performed via a touch panel provided on the electronic device has become widespread.

In particular, small portable electronic devices such as smartphones have become increasingly popular, and many games that can be played on such portable electronic devices have been released. In this situation, various techniques have been proposed for controlling virtual objects such as player characters displayed on a touch panel, including the virtual pad technique shown in Non-Patent Document 1.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a game device and program that is equipped with a touch panel and can set an origin in response to a user's touch operation to perform operations simulating a joystick. When the touch panel changes from a non-touch detection state to a touch detection state, the game device sets reference coordinates based on the coordinates at the start of detection, and if touch detection continues thereafter, sets designated coordinates based on the coordinates detected thereafter. The game device then recognizes that the direction of the vector from the reference coordinates to the designated coordinates represents the direction in which the joystick is tilted, and that the magnitude of the vector represents the degree to which the joystick is tilted, thereby realizing a virtual joystick and operating a virtual object.

Patent No. 3734820

In the conventional technology shown in Patent Document 1, a user touches a point on a touch panel with their finger to cause the game device to recognize the reference coordinates, then slides the finger while still in contact, causing the game device to recognize the designated coordinates based on the touch position of the finger after the slide. With conventional technology configured in this way, when a user inputs a direction, it is necessary to generate a significant distance from the reference coordinates to the designated coordinates, making it difficult to achieve high responsiveness. For example, if a user wants to perform an operation by tilting the virtual joystick greatly, it is necessary to generate the magnitude of a vector from the reference coordinates to the designated coordinates that corresponds to the degree to which the joystick was tilted greatly.

Therefore, there is a demand for a faster and more intuitive operation method for controlling virtual objects displayed on a touch panel and placed in a virtual space. More generally, there is a demand for a more user-friendly operation method for controlling target objects, which are objects that are placed in a virtual space and can be operated by a user.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and its main objective is to provide a program or the like that enables greater operability when controlling an object to be operated in a virtual space.

In order to achieve the above object, a program as one aspect of the present invention is a program executed in an electronic device equipped with a touch panel, and causes the electronic device to execute the steps of: retaining, as a data point sequence for each predetermined processing time, one or more data points indicated by a first axis value and a second axis value obtained based on a touch event generated by a user's operation on the touch panel; determining a displacement speed of a data point in the retained data point sequence based on the displacement of the data point in the retained data point sequence; and determining a speed factor for the user to control the movement of an object to be operated in a virtual space based on the deviation of the displacement speed in the latest data point sequence among the retained data point sequences from the average displacement speed in the data point sequences retained prior to the latest data point sequence.

In the present invention, preferably, the step of storing as a data point sequence comprises:
The retention of the sequence of data points that has exceeded a predetermined retention time is terminated.

Also, in the present invention, preferably, the step of determining the speed factor determines the speed factor based on the bias of the displacement speed in one of the retained data point sequences relative to the average value of the displacement speed in the data point sequence retained prior to the one data point sequence.

Also, in the present invention, preferably, the step of storing as a data point sequence stores one or more data points as a first axis sequence and a second axis sequence for each of the first axis value and the second axis value, and the step of determining the speed factor determines the displacement speed in the data point sequence based on the displacement of the values of the first axis sequence and the displacement of the values of the second axis sequence in the stored data point sequence.

In the present invention, preferably, the step of determining the speed factor determines the displacement speed in the retained data point sequence based on the displacement amount of chronologically adjacent data points in the retained data point sequence and the number of data points contained in the data point sequence.

In the present invention, preferably, the first axis and the second axis are parallel to the long and short sides of the touch panel.

Also, in the present invention, preferably, the default processing time is a time corresponding to a frame rate for executing the game, and the program further causes the electronic device to execute a step of determining the movement state of the target object displayed on the touch panel based on the speed factor.

In the present invention, preferably, the object to be operated is a character to be operated, and the movement state includes a walking state and a running state of the character to be operated.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention is an electronic device having a touch panel, which stores one or more data points indicated by a first axis value and a second axis value obtained based on a touch event generated by a user's operation on the touch panel as a data point sequence for each predetermined processing time, determines a displacement speed of a data point in the stored data point sequence based on the displacement of the data point in the data point sequence, and determines a speed factor for the user to control the movement of an object to be operated in a virtual space based on the deviation of the displacement speed in the latest data point sequence among the stored data point sequences from the average displacement speed in the data point sequences stored before the latest data point sequence.

In order to achieve the above object, a method according to one aspect of the present invention is a method executed in an electronic device equipped with a touch panel, and is characterized by comprising the steps of: retaining, as a data point sequence for each predetermined processing time, one or more data points indicated by a first axis value and a second axis value obtained based on a touch event generated by a user's operation on the touch panel; determining a displacement speed of a data point in the retained data point sequence based on the displacement of the data point in the retained data point sequence; and determining a speed factor for the user to control the movement of an object to be operated in a virtual space based on the deviation of the displacement speed in the latest data point sequence among the retained data point sequences from the average value of the displacement speed in the data point sequences retained prior to the latest data point sequence.

The present invention provides improved operability when controlling an object to be operated in a virtual space.

1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing coordinate axes consisting of a first axis and a second axis in the present embodiment. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a virtual character controlled by an electronic device. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a virtual character controlled by an electronic device. 4 is a flowchart of a process for determining a speed factor by an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts unless otherwise specified, and for the sake of convenience, the scale of the drawings may be different from the actual scale. In addition, for the sake of convenience, more detailed explanations than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters and duplicate explanations of substantially identical configurations may be omitted.

The electronic device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention is installed with a game application that presents virtual objects arranged in a virtual space to a user and progresses through a game. When the game application is executed, the electronic device 10 of this embodiment provides a virtual controller (virtual controller) for controlling an operated object, which is a virtual object operated by the user in the virtual space, in response to the user's operation. The virtual space is defined by the game application and can be a two-dimensional space or a three-dimensional space. For example, the virtual object is a character or an item arranged in the virtual space. In this embodiment, the operated object is a character (operated character) arranged in the virtual space. However, the operated object can also be an item or a virtual camera arranged in the virtual space.

For ease of explanation, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the electronic device 10 has a game application as described above installed, but this is not limited thereto. The electronic device 10 only needs to implement an application capable of controlling an object to be operated in response to a user's operation. For example, the electronic device 10 may implement an input assistance application or a simulation application that moves an object to be operated in response to a user's operation instead of or in addition to the game application. In the following explanation, application refers to application programs in general, and can refer to an app installed on a smartphone or tablet device.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of an electronic device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 10 includes a processor 11, an input device 12, a display device 13, a storage device 14, and a communication device 15. These components are connected by a bus 16. Note that an interface is provided between the bus 16 and each component device as necessary. In this embodiment, the electronic device 10 is a smartphone. However, the electronic device 10 can be a terminal such as a tablet computer or a computer equipped with a contact-type input device such as a touchpad, as long as it has the above configuration.

The processor 11 controls the operation of the entire electronic device 10. For example, the processor 11 is a CPU. Note that an electronic circuit such as an MPU may also be used as the processor 11. The processor 11 performs various processes by reading and executing programs and data stored in the storage device 14. In one example, the processor 11 is composed of multiple processors.

The input device 12 is a user interface that accepts input from a user to the electronic device 10, and is, for example, a touch panel, a touch pad, a keyboard, or a mouse. The display device (display) 13 displays application screens and the like to the user of the electronic device 10 under the control of the processor 11. In this embodiment, the electronic device 10, which is a smartphone, is provided with a touch panel 17 as the input device 12, which also functions as the display device 13, and the input device 12 and the display device 13 are integrated into one structure. The touch panel 17 in this embodiment is a projected capacitive touch panel, but if a device with equivalent functions is available, it may be used.

The storage device 14 is a storage device that is typically provided in a smartphone, and includes RAM, which is a volatile memory, and ROM, which is a non-volatile memory. The storage device 14 can also include external memory. The storage device 14 stores various programs, including game applications. For example, the storage device 14 stores an operating system (OS), middleware, application programs, various data that may be referenced in conjunction with the execution of these programs, and the like.

In one example, the storage device 14 includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device. The main storage device is a volatile storage medium that allows high-speed reading and writing of information, and is used as a storage area and a working area when the processor 11 processes information. The auxiliary storage device stores various programs and data used by the processor 11 when executing each program. The auxiliary storage device is, for example, a hard disk device, but may be any non-volatile storage or non-volatile memory capable of storing information, and may be removable.

The communication device 15 transmits and receives data to and from other computers, such as servers, via a network. For example, the communication device 15 connects to a network by performing wireless communication, such as mobile communication or wireless LAN. In one example, the electronic device 10 downloads a program from a server using the communication device 15 and stores it in the storage device 14. However, the communication device 15 may also perform known wired communication. If data is not transmitted or received to and from other computers, the electronic device 10 does not need to have a communication device 15.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 10 includes an input unit 21, a display unit 22, and a control unit 23. The control unit 23 includes an engine unit 24, a state determination unit 25, and an application unit 26. In this embodiment, these functions are realized by a program being executed by the processor 11. For example, the program to be executed is a program stored in the storage device 14 or received via the communication device 15. In this way, since various functions are realized by loading a program, part or all of one part (function) may be possessed by another part. However, these functions may also be realized by hardware by configuring electronic circuits or the like to realize part or all of each function.

The input unit 21 is configured using the input device 12, and accepts input from the user to the electronic device 10. In this embodiment, the input unit 21 accepts a touch operation by the user on the touch panel 17 and generates a touch event, and can use a touch detection function that is generally provided in smartphones equipped with a touch panel 17.

The display unit 22 displays the game application screen on the display device 13 and displays a screen in response to user operations.

The control unit 23 realizes a virtual controller. In this embodiment, the control unit 23 employs a three-layer architecture, with the engine unit 24, state determination unit 25, and application unit 26 corresponding to each layer. For example, the control unit 23 is realized by the processor 11 executing a program composed of programs corresponding to each layer.

The engine unit 24 mainly uses touch events generated by the user's touch operation on the touch panel 17 to determine a speed factor and angle for the user to control the movement of the operated object in the virtual space, and sends them to the state determination unit 25. The speed factor is a value for determining the speed of the operated object. In this embodiment, since the operated object is an operated character, the speed factor is also a value for determining the motion of the character, such as walking or running. The angle is a value for determining the movement direction of the operated object. The angle determination method of the engine unit 24 uses the method described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-094656, and therefore will not be described in this specification.

The state determination unit 25 mainly uses the speed factor sent from the engine unit 24 to determine the movement state of the object to be operated, and sends the speed factor and the movement state to the application unit 26.

The application unit 26 corresponds to a specific game application that implements in-game operations, etc. The game application has a defined frame rate, similar to a general game application, and processes the main loop of the main program at intervals corresponding to the frame rate, for example. The frame rate is generally 30 fps (frames per second) or 60 fps. However, the application unit 26 may correspond to an input assistance application or a simulation application that moves an object to be operated in response to a user's operation.

The engine unit 24 stores data points indicated by the first axis value and the second axis value acquired based on a touch event generated by a user's operation on the touch panel 17 in a first buffer in the storage device 14. Here, a touch event occurs when the user touches the touch panel 17 with his/her finger (touchstart), when the user moves his/her finger while keeping it in contact with the touch panel 17 (touchmove), when the user removes his/her finger from the touch panel 17 (touchend), etc.

The engine unit 24 acquires a touch event when the touch event occurs. When the engine unit 24 acquires a touch event, it acquires a set of values (x, y) consisting of two variables that correspond to the position on the touch panel 17 where the capacitance has changed, and stores the set of values in a first buffer. The data of the set of values consisting of the two variables is acquired by the engine unit 24 in association with the touch event, and corresponds to a data point indicated by the value of the first axis and the value of the second axis.

In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the first axis and the second axis are defined as follows. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing coordinate axes consisting of the first axis and the second axis in this embodiment. The first axis is a horizontal axis (x axis) substantially parallel to the short side of the touch panel 17, which is approximately rectangular. The second axis is a vertical axis (y axis) substantially parallel to the long side of the touch panel 17. A position on the touch panel 17 is expressed as coordinates (x, y) by the first axis (x axis) and the second axis (y axis). Therefore, in this embodiment, the coordinates (x, y) of a data point correspond to a position on the touch panel 17, and the engine unit 24 holds the coordinates (x, y) in the first buffer as a data point. The coordinate setting shown in FIG. 3 is an example, and can be set differently from the above example by a program implemented in the electronic device 10.

The engine unit 24 stores one or more data points held in the first buffer as a data point sequence for each predetermined processing time. In this embodiment, the engine unit 24 holds the data point sequence in the second buffer in the storage device 14 for each frame time (time between frames). The frame time F (seconds) is a time corresponding to the frame rate for executing the game, and for example, when the frame rate is 30 fps, F is 1/30 seconds.

により表される。Ｐ（ｉ）が含む各データポイントは、ｉ番目のフレームの時間内に第１のバッファに保持されたデータポイントである。各データポイントＰ_i,k（ｋ＝１～ｍ）のｘ座標の値及びｙ座標の値は（ｘ_i,k，ｙ_i,k）で表される。各データポイントは、Ｐ_i,1、Ｐ_i,2、…、Ｐ_i,mの順番に第１のバッファに格納された時間が早いものとする。エンジン部２４は、ｉ－１番目のＰ（ｉ－１）を保持してから１フレームの時間Ｆ（秒）経過後にＰ（ｉ）を保持し、更に１フレームの時間経過後にＰ（ｉ＋１）を保持する。変数ｍは、Ｐ（ｉ）が含むデータポイントの数であるため、Ｐ（ｉ）に応じて異なる。 The data point sequence P(i) held by the engine unit 24 in the i-th frame is

Each data point included in P(i) is a data point held in the first buffer within the time of the i-th frame. The x-coordinate value and the y-coordinate value of each data point P _i,k (k=1 to m) are expressed as (x _i,k , y _i,k ). The data points are stored in the first buffer in the order of P _i,1 , P _i,2 , ..., P _i,m in order of earliest time. The engine unit 24 holds P(i) after one frame time F (seconds) has elapsed since holding the i-1th P(i-1), and holds P(i+1) after one frame time has elapsed. The variable m is the number of data points included in P(i), and therefore varies depending on P(i).

The engine unit 24 ends the retention of a data point sequence that has exceeded a preset retention time among the data point sequences retained in the second buffer. For example, when the engine unit 24 ends retention of data of a data point sequence, the engine unit 24 may delete the data, invalidate the data, or associate a flag indicating that retention has been terminated with the data and delete it as appropriate. For example, the engine unit 24 determines a variable D that specifies the life of the data points stored in the second buffer. The time specified by the variable D corresponds to a preset processing time, which corresponds to the frame time in this embodiment. For example, the engine unit 24 retains the data point sequence P(i) in the second buffer in association with the time t _i at which the data point sequence P(i) was retained. When the engine unit 24 stores one data point sequence P(i) in the second buffer, it monitors the elapsed time T since the data point sequence P(i) was stored and continuously compares it with the variable D. When the elapsed time T of the monitored data point sequence P(i) exceeds the variable D, the engine unit 24 ends retention of the data point sequence P(i) in the second buffer. The engine unit 24 can calculate the elapsed time T using the stored time t _i .

In this embodiment, the engine unit 24 holds one data point sequence P(i) in the second buffer for a time of 5F (seconds) corresponding to five frames. Therefore, the engine unit 24 holds five data point sequences. The engine unit 24 holds the five data point sequences in the order of P(5), P(4), P(3), P(2), and P(1) from the newest data point sequence. Therefore, when the engine unit 24 holds a data point sequence corresponding to five frames, P(5) is the most recently held data point sequence. When the engine unit 24 holds a new data point sequence, it holds the new data point sequence as P(5) and replaces P(i) (1≦i≦4) with the data of P(i+1). At this time, the engine unit 24 ends holding P(1) which has exceeded the default holding time.

（１）

（２）
ここで、ｎは、エンジン部２４が第２のバッファに保持しているデータポイント列の数であり、フレーム数に対応する。本実施形態では、エンジン部２４は５フレームに対応する時間５Ｆ（秒）データポイント列を保持するため、経過時間に応じて、ｎ＝１、ｎ＝２、ｎ＝３、ｎ＝４、ｎ＝５、ｎ＝５、…ｎ＝５となる。したがって、５フレームに対応する時間５Ｆ（秒）経過後は、ｎ＝５となる。また、最も新しく保持したデータポイント列Ｐ（ｎ）のｘ座標の値がｘ_n,0，…ｘ_n,mであり、最も新しく保持したデータポイント列Ｐ（ｎ）のｙ座標の値がｙ_n,0，…ｙ_n,mである。なお、エンジン部２４がデータポイント列を保持する時間に応じて、ｎの最大値は異なる値となる。 In one preferred example, the engine unit 24 holds x-coordinate values and y-coordinate values separately as data point strings for each frame time. The set X of x-coordinate values and the set Y of y-coordinate values held by the engine unit 24 are expressed by formulas (1) and (2), respectively.

(1)

(2)
Here, n is the number of data point sequences held by the engine unit 24 in the second buffer, and corresponds to the number of frames. In this embodiment, the engine unit 24 holds data point sequences for a time period of 5F (seconds) corresponding to five frames, so that n=1, n=2, n=3, n=4, n=5, n=5, ..., n=5 according to the elapsed time. Therefore, after the time period of 5F (seconds) corresponding to five frames has elapsed, n=5. In addition, the x-coordinate value of the most recently held data point sequence P(n) is _xn,0 , ... _{, xn,m} , and the y-coordinate value of the most recently held data point sequence P(n) is yn _,0 , ... _{, yn,m} . Note that the maximum value of n varies depending on the time period for which the engine unit 24 holds the data point sequence.

The engine unit 24 determines the speed factor based on the bias of the displacement speed v _n in the latest data point sequence among the stored data point sequences with respect to the average value of the displacement speeds v ₁ to v _n-1 in the data point sequence stored before the latest data point sequence. Preferably, the engine unit 24 determines the speed factor based on the bias of the displacement speed v _i (i=1 to n) in one data point sequence among the stored data point sequences with respect to the average value of the displacement speeds v ₁ to v _i-1 in the data point sequence stored before the one data point sequence. Here, the bias of the displacement speed v _i with respect to the average value of the displacement speeds v ₀ to v _i-1 is, for example, the bias (deviation) of the displacement speed v _i from the average value of the displacement speeds v ₀ to v _i-1 . Note that the average value of the displacement speeds v ₁ to v _i-1 is 0 when i=1 and v ₁ when i=2.

The engine unit 24 outputs the determined speed factor to the state determination unit 25. The engine unit 24 may store the determined speed factor in a memory area in the storage device 14 referenced by the state determination unit 25, instead of outputting it directly to the state determination unit 25.

（３）
ここで、ｎは、エンジン部２４が第２のバッファに保持しているデータポイント列の数である。 Specifically, the engine unit 24 calculates the speed factor as follows. The speed factor is an output value of a Cumulative Pointwize Deviation function (CPD function) defined as follows. The CPD function is calculated by equation (3). The engine unit 24 outputs the output value of the CPD function to the state determination unit 25.

(3)
Here, n is the number of data point strings that the engine unit 24 holds in the second buffer.

v _i is the displacement speed in the i-th data point sequence or the displacement speed in the i-th frame. The displacement speed corresponds to the moving speed of the user's finger calculated from the set of touch points (set of data points) at the time of the target frame. In one example, the engine unit 24 determines the displacement speed of the data points in the data point sequence stored in the second buffer based on the displacement of the data points in the data point sequence. In one example, when the engine unit 24 stores the x-coordinate value and the y-coordinate value separately as the data point sequence, the engine unit 24 determines the displacement speed based on the displacement of the x-coordinate value and the displacement of the y-coordinate value in the data point sequence stored in the second buffer. In one example, the engine unit 24 determines the displacement speed based on the displacement amount of the data points adjacent in time series in the data point sequence stored in the second buffer and the number of data points included in the data point sequence.

（４）
ここで、αは、ディスプレイのピクセル密度ＤＰＩ（Dot-Per-Inch）に対応する係数としての０以上の実数であり、一般的には１である。βは、積算重みであり、大きくすることにより突発的な変化を変位速さに反映しやすくなり、小さくすることにより突発的な変化を変位速さに反映しにくくなる。Ｐ（ｉ）がデータポイントを含まない場合、エンジン部２４は、変位速さｖ_iを算出せず、例えばｖ_i＝０と設定する。Ｐ（ｉ）がデータポイントを１つのみ含む場合も、エンジン部２４は、変位速さｖ_iを同様に算出せず、例えばｖ_i＝０と設定する。 Specifically, the displacement speed is calculated by the formula (4).

(4)
Here, α is a real number equal to or greater than 0 as a coefficient corresponding to the pixel density DPI (Dot-Per-Inch) of the display, and is generally 1. β is an integrated weight, and by increasing it, it becomes easier to reflect sudden changes in the displacement speed, and by decreasing it, it becomes harder to reflect sudden changes in the displacement speed. When P(i) does not include a data point, the engine unit 24 does not calculate the displacement speed v _i , and sets, for example, v _i = 0. When P(i) includes only one data point, the engine unit 24 similarly does not calculate the displacement speed v _i , and sets, for example, v _i = 0.

（５）
ここで、ｉ＝１の場合は、直前までの変位速さが存在しないため、ａｖｇ_i-1（ｖ）＝０となる。 avg _{i -1} (v) is the average of the displacement speed v _i up to the frame immediately before the i-th frame, and is calculated by the formula (5).

(5)
Here, when i=1, there is no displacement speed up to the previous point, so avg _i-1 (v)=0.

The state determination unit 25 determines the movement state of the operation target object displayed on the touch panel 17 based on the speed factor determined by the engine unit 24. In this embodiment, the operation target object is an operation target character, and the movement state determined by the state determination unit 25 is either a walking state or a running state of the operation target character.

（６）
ｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数は、ＣＰＤ関数の出力値が、閾値τ以下のときは歩き（walk）と判定し、ＣＰＤ関数の出力値が閾値τより大きいときは走り（run）と判定する関数である。例えばｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数は、閾値τ以下のときは「０」を出力し、閾値τより大きいときは「１」を出力する。状態決定部２５は、ＣＰＤ関数の出力値及びｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数の出力値をアプリケーション部２６へ出力する。状態決定部２５は、アプリケーション部２６へ直接出力せずに、アプリケーション部２６が参照するメモリ領域にＣＰＤ関数の出力値及びｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数の出力値を格納してもよい。 In one example, the state determining unit 25 is the output value of a classify function defined as follows: The classify function is calculated by equation (6).

(6)
The classify function is a function that determines that the output value of the CPD function is a walk when it is equal to or less than a threshold value τ, and determines that the output value of the CPD function is a run when it is greater than the threshold value τ. For example, the classify function outputs "0" when it is equal to or less than the threshold value τ, and outputs "1" when it is greater than the threshold value τ. The state determination unit 25 outputs the output value of the CPD function and the output value of the classify function to the application unit 26. The state determination unit 25 may store the output value of the CPD function and the output value of the classify function in a memory area referenced by the application unit 26, without directly outputting them to the application unit 26.

The application unit 26 has the functions of an application launched on the electronic device 10, and provides services by the application. In one preferred example, the application unit 26 converts the output value of the CPD function and the output value of the classify function output from the state determination unit 25 into a specific motion of the controlled character, and is a function implemented in a general game application. For example, the application unit 26 converts the output value of the CPD function output from the state determination unit 25 directly into the moving speed of the controlled character, and converts the output value of the classify function into the moving state (walking or running) of the controlled character. In this embodiment, the functions of the application unit 26 are realized by a native application installed on the electronic device 10.

Figures 4 and 5 are diagrams showing an example of a target character 50 controlled by the electronic device 10. Figure 4 shows the target character 50 walking, and Figure 5 shows the target character 50 running. The electronic device 10 determines the output of the CPD function and the classify function from a set of data points, and controls the motion of the target character 50, such as walking or running, based on the output.

（７）
例えば、ユーザが意図的に指を早く動かした場合、必然的に指が一定の時間加速することになる。この場合、式（７）におけるｖ₁～ｖ₅の値は全体的に大きくなるため、ＣＰＤ関数はより大きな値を出力することとなる。一方、ユーザが意図的に指を早く動かしていない場合、例えば式（７）におけるｖ₁～ｖ₅のいずれか１つの値が大きくなる。この場合、ＣＰＤ関数は、ｖ₁～ｖ₅の値による演算に対して１／５（１／ｎ）を乗算することにより平準化するため、極端に大きな値を出力しない。このように、５フレームに対応する時間５Ｆ（秒）経過後においては、ＣＰＤ関数の出力値は、意図的に指を加速し続けている場合に大きな値となり、意図的に加速しないときは大きな値とならない。 An example of speed factor calculation using the CPD function shown in equation (3) by the engine unit 24 will be described below. When n=5, the CPD function is expressed by equation (7).

(7)
For example, if a user intentionally moves his/her finger quickly, the finger will inevitably accelerate for a certain period of time. In this case, the values of v ₁ to v ₅ in formula (7) will be large overall, so the CPD function will output a larger value. On the other hand, if the user does not intentionally move his/her finger quickly, for example, one of the values of v ₁ to v ₅ in formula (7) will be large. In this case, the CPD function does not output an extremely large value because it smoothes out the calculations based on the values of v ₁ to v ₅ by multiplying them by 1/5 (1/n). In this way, after the time 5F (seconds) corresponding to five frames has elapsed, the output value of the CPD function will be a large value if the finger continues to accelerate intentionally, and will not be a large value if the finger is not accelerated intentionally.

Figure 6 is a flowchart of a process for determining a speed factor by the electronic device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 10 executes this process for each frame time corresponding to the frame rate. While this flowchart is being executed, the engine unit 24 acquires data points from the touch event that has occurred and stores them in the first buffer. However, the process of this flowchart does not have to be executed for each frame time as long as it is executed at regular intervals.

In step 101, the engine unit 24 stores the coordinates (data points) acquired during one frame in the second buffer as a data point sequence P(i). At this time, the engine unit 24 associates, with the stored data point sequence P(i), a variable T indicating the elapsed time since storage in milliseconds and a variable D indicating the time that can be stored in the second buffer (storage lifespan) in milliseconds.

Next, in step 102, the engine unit 24 terminates the retention of the data point sequence P(i) held in the second buffer for which the elapsed time T is equal to or greater than the variable D.

Then, in step 103, the speed factor is determined using equations (3) to (5). In step 104, the flow returns to step 101 unless the flow ends, for example, because the game application ends. When the flow ends, the engine unit 24 deletes all data point sequences held in the second buffer.

Next, the main effects of the electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment utilizes a feature of a projected capacitive touch panel in that when a finger is swiped on the touch panel 17, six or more touch events occur in an extremely short time, such as 100 ms. The system architecture of the software implemented in the electronic device 10 has a three-layer structure in which the engine unit 24, state determination unit 25, and application unit 26 correspond to the first layer, second layer, and third layer, respectively, and the third layer corresponds to, for example, a game application.

The first layer calculates a CPD function using equations (3) to (5) from a set of multiple touch events (a set of data points) that occur for each predetermined processing time, for example, for each frame time in a game application as the default processing time. The first layer outputs the output value of the CPD function to the second layer as a speed factor. The second layer outputs the continuously output speed factor to the third layer, and uses the speed factor to output a movement state indicating, for example, whether the controlled character is walking or running to the third layer for each predetermined processing time. The movement state is output using the classify function shown in equation (6). The third layer converts the output value of the CPD function output from the second layer directly into the movement speed of the controlled character, and converts the output value of the classify function into the movement state (walking or running) of the controlled character.

When the first layer starts to hold the data point sequence in the second data buffer, n, which indicates the number of frames in which the data point sequence is stored, increases with the elapsed time, from n=1, to n=2, and so on. After the time during which the first layer holds the data point sequence has elapsed, n is fixed at the maximum value. The CPD function outputs a larger value when the displacement speed of each frame holds a value greater than the average value of the displacement speed up to the previous frame. Therefore, if the user intentionally moves his finger faster, the finger will inevitably accelerate for a certain period of time, and the CPD function will output a larger value. On the other hand, if the displacement speed becomes large only for one frame due to the contact state between the touch panel 17 and the finger, the CPD function is smoothed by multiplying by 1/n, so that it does not output an extremely large value, especially when n is at its maximum value. In this way, the output value of the CPD function becomes a large value when the finger is intentionally accelerated, and does not take a large value when the finger is not intentionally accelerated, so that the electronic device 10 can determine the movement state of the operation target character 50 in response to the user's intuitive operation. Furthermore, the CPD function uses deviation to absorb individual differences and habits in the speed at which each user moves their finger, so the electronic device 10 can use the CPD function to detect only intentional acceleration.

When the first layer starts to store the data point sequence in the second data buffer, n=1, n=2, etc., is a relatively small value among the possible values, and the impact of multiplying by 1/n is small. Therefore, by using the CPD function, the electronic device 10 can immediately determine the movement state of the operation target character 50 from the first frame after the user inputs. For example, if the user moves his/her finger vigorously, the electronic device 10 can immediately put the operation target character 50 into a running state. On the other hand, even if the user gradually accelerates his/her finger, the electronic device 10 can transition the operation target character 50 from a walking state to a running state by determining the movement state for each frame using the CPD function that accumulates a weight according to the duration of the acceleration. Furthermore, the recognition accuracy of the determination using the CPD function increases with the number of frames that have passed, so even if walking and running cannot be distinguished in the first frame, they can be distinguished in the second or third frame.

In addition, in this embodiment, the first layer is configured to continue calculating the speed factor for each frame rate using touch events that occur in an extremely short time, so that each layer is able to calculate the speed at which the controlled character moves without using past touch coordinates as reference points. In this way, in this embodiment, the electronic device 10 calculates speed without using spatial concepts such as points such as a start point (start coordinate) and an end point (end coordinate), which were used in virtual controllers in conventional technology.

In addition, in this embodiment, unlike the virtual controller in the conventional technology, that is, the virtual controller using a vector obtained by the positional relationship between the reference coordinate and the current designated coordinate, there is no concept of a reference coordinate, so it is possible to provide higher responsiveness than a virtual controller that determines a reference coordinate. In particular, when performing a direction change operation of the operation target character, even if the user performs an operation on the touch panel 17 in a direction significantly different from the direction before the direction change, there is no concept that the current designated coordinate approaches the reference coordinate, so it is possible to quickly respond to the operation content intended by the user and reflect it in the motion of the operation target character. In addition, by being configured as described above, it is possible to enable a user who operates with a smartphone to operate with one hand. This solves the problem that a user must always be aware of the reference coordinate when operating a virtual joystick in the conventional technology, which may make it difficult to operate with one hand. In this way, in this embodiment, a virtual controller that enables faster and more intuitive operation is realized.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, unlike the virtual controller in the conventional technology, the electronic device 10 does not require input based on the distance the finger moves from a reference coordinate, so the user can achieve the operation intended by the user with an operation that requires less finger movement. Therefore, compared to the conventional technology, it can be achieved with a smaller mounting area. For example, it is possible to achieve the same operability regardless of the size of the touch panel 17.

The virtual controller technology provided by the electronic device 10 of this embodiment mathematically models character motion control from an unprecedented perspective of motion control based on the finger movement speed and acceleration duration associated with a swipe operation, making it applicable to a wide range of game genres. All movements are numerically controlled based on the mathematical model, and various motion controls can be created by changing settings such as the value of β shown in formula (4).

The above effects and advantages are the same in other embodiments and examples unless otherwise stated.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the present invention may be a program that realizes the functions of the embodiments of the present invention described above and the information processing shown in the flowcharts, or a computer-readable storage medium that stores the program. In still other embodiments, the present invention may be a method that realizes the functions of the embodiments of the present invention described above and the information processing shown in the flowcharts. In still other embodiments, the present invention may be a server that can supply a program that realizes the functions of the embodiments of the present invention described above and the information processing shown in the flowcharts to a computer. In still other embodiments, the present invention may be a virtual machine that realizes the functions of the embodiments of the present invention described above and the information processing shown in the flowcharts.

Below, we will explain modified examples of the embodiments of the present invention. The modified examples described below can be combined as appropriate and applied to any embodiment of the present invention, provided no contradictions arise.

（８）
ｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数は、ＣＰＤ関数の出力値が、閾値ｔ１以下のときは歩き（walk1）と判定し、閾値ｔ１より大きく閾値ｔ２より小さいときは早歩き(walk2)と判定し、閾値ｔ２より大きいときは走り（run）と判定する関数である。例えばｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数は、閾値ｔ１以下のときは「０」を出力し、閾値ｔ１より大きく閾値ｔ２以下のときは「１」を出力し、閾値ｔ２より大きいときは「２」を出力する。状態決定部２５は、ＣＰＤ関数の出力値及びｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数の出力値をアプリケーション部２６へ出力する。状態決定部２５は、アプリケーション部２６へ直接出力せずに、アプリケーション部２６が参照するメモリ領域にＣＰＤ関数の出力値及びｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数の出力値を格納してもよい。このように、移動状態は、操作対象キャラクタが歩く状態及び走る状態を含む複数の状態とすることができ、ｃｌａｓｓｉｆｙ関数は、設定した閾値に応じていずれか１つの移動状態を判定するものであればよい。 In one modified example, the movement state determined by the state determination unit 25 is one of a walking state, a fast walking state, and a running state of the operation target character. In this case, the classify function is calculated by the formula (8).

(8)
The classify function is a function that determines that the output value of the CPD function is walking (walk1) when it is equal to or less than the threshold t1, determines that the output value is brisk walking (walk2) when it is greater than the threshold t1 and less than the threshold t2, and determines that the output value is running (run) when it is greater than the threshold t2. For example, the classify function outputs "0" when it is equal to or less than the threshold t1, outputs "1" when it is greater than the threshold t1 and less than the threshold t2, and outputs "2" when it is greater than the threshold t2. The state determination unit 25 outputs the output value of the CPD function and the output value of the classify function to the application unit 26. The state determination unit 25 may store the output value of the CPD function and the output value of the classify function in a memory area referenced by the application unit 26 without directly outputting them to the application unit 26. In this way, the movement state can be a plurality of states including a state in which the operation target character is walking and a state in which the operation target character is running, and the classify function may determine any one of the movement states according to the set threshold.

In one variant, the engine unit 24 determines the movement state instead of the state determination unit 25 and outputs it to the application unit 26.

In one modified example, the engine unit 24 stores the determined displacement speed v _i in a third buffer in the storage device 14 for reference when calculating the CPD function. When the number of displacement speeds stored in the third buffer exceeds a predetermined amount, the engine unit 24 ends the storage of the displacement speed that was stored first among the stored displacement speeds. For example, when the engine unit 24 ends the storage of the displacement speed data, the engine unit 24 may delete the data, invalidate the data, or associate a flag indicating that the storage has ended with the data and delete it as appropriate. For example, the engine unit 24 stores displacement speeds v _i corresponding to a maximum of five frames. The engine unit 24 stores five displacement speeds, in order from the newest displacement speed, v ₅ , v ₄ , v ₃ , v ₂ , and v ₁ . Therefore, when the engine unit 24 stores displacement speeds corresponding to five frames, v ₅ is the latest stored data point sequence. When the engine unit 24 newly holds the displacement speed, it holds the new displacement speed as _v5 , replaces v _i (1≦i≦4) with the data of v _i+1 , and terminates holding of v ₁ .

In one variation, the functions of the application unit 26 are realized by a web application installed on the electronic device 10. In this case, a server that communicates with the electronic device 10 transmits part or all of the application unit 26 to the electronic device 10 as a web page, and the web application executes the processing executed by the application unit 26 on the electronic device 10 and transmits and receives data to and from the server.

In one variation, the input device 12 and the display device 13 are separate devices located at different positions. In this case, the input device 12 is a device having the same functions as a touch panel or a projected capacitive touch panel. The display device 13 may be any device that displays application screens and the like to the user of the electronic device 10 under the control of the processor 11, such as a liquid crystal display, an organic electroluminescence display, or a plasma display.

In the processes or operations described above, the processes or operations can be freely modified as long as no inconsistencies in the processes or operations occur, such as the use of data in a step that should not yet be available in that step. Furthermore, the embodiments described above are merely examples for explaining the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The present invention can be implemented in various forms as long as they do not deviate from the gist of the invention.

10 Electronic device 11 Processor 12 Input device 13 Display device 14 Storage device 15 Communication device 16 Bus 17 Touch panel 21 Input unit 22 Display unit 23 Control unit 24 Engine unit 25 State determination unit 26 Application unit 50 Character to be operated

Claims (10)

A program executed in an electronic device having a touch panel, the electronic device comprising:
storing, for each preset time, a plurality of data points indicated by a first axis value and a second axis value acquired based on a touch event generated by a user's operation on the touch panel, as a data point sequence;
determining a displacement speed of a data point in a data point sequence for a certain predetermined time based on the displacement of the data point in the data point sequence held for the certain predetermined time, and determining a speed factor for the user to control the movement of an object to be operated in a virtual space based on a deviation of the displacement speed in the latest data point sequence among the held data point sequences from an average value of the displacement speeds in the data point sequences held prior to the latest data point sequence;
A program that executes the following. The step of retaining as a sequence of data points comprises:
The program according to claim 1 , further comprising: terminating retention of the data point sequence that has exceeded a predetermined retention time among the data point sequence being retained. The step of determining a rate factor comprises:
The program of claim 1 or 2, wherein the speed factor is determined based on a deviation of the displacement speed in one of the retained data point sequences at a predetermined time from the average displacement speed in a data point sequence retained prior to the one of the retained data point sequences at the predetermined time. The step of storing as a data point sequence includes storing a plurality of data points as a first axis sequence and a second axis sequence for each value of the first axis and each value of the second axis;
4. The program of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the speed factor determines a rate of change in a series of data points held for a predetermined time based on a change in the values of the first axis column and a change in the values of the second axis column in the series of data points held for the predetermined time. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the step of determining the speed factor determines the displacement speed in a data point sequence at a given time based on the displacement amount of chronologically adjacent data points in the data point sequence held at a given time and the number of data points contained in the data point sequence. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first axis and the second axis are parallel to the long and short sides of the touch panel. the predetermined processing time corresponds to a frame rate for executing a game,
The program includes:
The program according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining a moving state of the operation target object displayed on the touch panel based on the speed factor. the operation target object is an operation target character,
The program according to claim 7 , wherein the movement state includes a walking state and a running state of the operated character. An electronic device having a touch panel,
retaining a plurality of data points indicated by a first axis value and a second axis value acquired based on a touch event generated by a user's operation on the touch panel as a data point sequence for each predetermined time;
determining a rate of change of the data points in the sequence of data points held for a predetermined time based on the change of the data points in the sequence of data points held for the predetermined time;
determining a speed factor for the user to control the movement of the object to be operated in the virtual space based on a deviation of a displacement speed in a latest data point sequence among the stored data point sequences with respect to an average value of displacement speeds in data point sequences stored prior to the latest data point sequence;
Electronic device. 1. A method implemented in an electronic device having a touch panel, comprising:
storing, for each preset time, a plurality of data points indicated by a first axis value and a second axis value acquired based on a touch event generated by a user's operation on the touch panel, as a data point sequence;
determining a displacement speed of a data point in a data point sequence for a certain predetermined time based on the displacement of the data point in the data point sequence held for the certain predetermined time, and determining a speed factor for the user to control the movement of an object to be operated in a virtual space based on a deviation of the displacement speed in the latest data point sequence among the held data point sequences from an average value of the displacement speeds in the data point sequences held prior to the latest data point sequence;
The method according to claim 1,

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