JPH07334443A - Method for controlling display of indication cursor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid the complication of a screen due to the display of a useless indication cursor by selecting the display or non-display of an instruction cursor of a certain interactive person on the display devices of opposite interactive persons by remote control. CONSTITUTION:When an interactive person A specifies an ON part of a cursor display menu on the screen of a display device 11A by the operation of a pointing device, an instruction cursor of the person A is displayed on all display devices of other interactive persons in interactive operation including a display device 11B of an interactive person B as instruction cursors. However when the number of already displayed instruction cursors reaches a maximum value, the display of the new instruction cursor is suppressed and a message indicating the disableness of its display is displayed on the device 11A. When the person A specifies an OFF part of the menu, the instruction cursors of all display devices of the other persons in the interactive operation including the device 11B of the person B are erased as non-display states.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention connects a plurality of calculation processing devices having a display device to each other through a communication line, displays the same screen on each display device, and indicates an arbitrary point on the screen with a pointing cursor. The present invention relates to a dialogue system in which remote instruction can be performed by using a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional dialogue system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 76976, it is possible to display the materials concerning the contents of the dialogue on the display devices of all the interlocutors who participate in the dialogue, and each interlocutor has his / her own pointing cursor, It was possible to display on the display devices of all the interlocutors, including the display device. The speaker uses the pointing cursor to point to materials related to the conversation,
Alternatively, a method such as marking can be used to visually recognize the corresponding portion in the material that the conversation partner at the remote place is talking about the speaker through the respective display devices.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since the instruction cursors for the number of dialog persons are always displayed on the display devices of all the interlocutors, when the number of interlocutors is large, a large number of interlocutors are displayed on the display device. There is a problem that the display cursor screen becomes complicated because the instruction cursor seems to be confusing. Also, since the displayed pointing cursor is synchronized with the cursor operation of each interlocutor, when one interlocutor operates the pointing cursor, the pointing cursor moves unexpectedly on the display device of another interlocutor. Therefore, there are problems that the pointing cursor is troublesome and the interlocutor misunderstands.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pointing cursor control method for improving the above-mentioned problems relating to a pointing cursor in a dialogue system.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the dialog system, the pointing cursor indicates a corresponding portion in the material to another interlocutor, and the interlocutor executes a menu for editing the material. Also used for operations on. When the pointing cursor is used to operate the display screen, the pointing cursor does not have to be displayed on a display device other than itself.

On the basis of the above consideration, the present invention provides that a plurality of calculation processing devices having a display device are mutually connected by a communication line, and an arbitrary point on the screen of the display device of each calculation processing device is changed to another calculation processing device. In a dialogue system in which a pointing cursor can be used for remote instruction, a method of switching display or non-display of the pointing cursor of the own calculation processing device on the screen of the display device of another calculation processing device by remote control from each calculation processing device By doing so, the above object is achieved.

[0007]

Each person who interacts with the dialogue system according to the present invention can display or hide his / her pointing cursor on the display device of the other party by remote control from his / her own device.

Therefore, even when the number of interlocutors is large, the interlocutor displays the pointing cursor only when it is necessary to display it, and the interlocutors who do not display it by hiding the own pointing cursor. It is possible to reduce the number of pointing cursors displayed on the device and avoid confusing the display screen. As a result, the pointing cursor operated by the user and the pointing cursors of other interlocutors used for the explanation are easily discriminated, which is effective in terms of operability of the dialogue system or prevention of erroneous operation.

Further, when one interlocutor uses his or her pointing cursor for pointing a certain point on the material and another interlocutor uses his or her pointing cursor for menu operation, When the pointing cursor is displayed on the display device of another interlocutor, the movement may be very annoying to the other interlocutor, or may cause an erroneous operation. According to the present invention, by hiding the pointing cursor used for menu operation,
Such inconvenience can be eliminated.

As will be described in the following embodiment, the maximum number of pointing cursors that can be displayed simultaneously is set, and if the number of pointing cursors being displayed has reached the maximum number, a new pointing cursor is displayed. Control for suppressing the display of may be introduced into the pointing cursor control method of the present invention,
By doing so, it is possible to automatically limit the number of display of the pointing cursor to an appropriate number or less, so that it is possible to more reliably avoid the confusion of the screen of the display device.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a dialogue system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this dialogue system, a calculation processing device 1A for an interlocutor A, a calculation processing device 1B for an interlocutor B, and a calculation processing device 1C for an interlocutor C are connected to each other via a communication line 2. Although the number of interlocutors is three in this example, the number of interlocutors is generally N, and each interlocutor has one calculation processing device. The calculation processing device 1 for each interlocutor includes a display device 11, a system device 12 for performing various controls and processes, an input device 13 for inputting various operation instructions and information, and a communication control device. Have the same configuration as the communication control device 14.

To the system unit 12, means 15 for remotely controlling the display state of the pointing cursor by the method of the present invention is added. This means 15 is practically realized by a part of the program related to the system unit 12.

In such a dialogue system, screen information such as dialogue materials displayed on a display device 11 by one interlocutor is sent to another interlocutor's device through the communication line 2, and each interlocutor's device is displayed. A similar screen is displayed on the display device 11. Each interlocutor can have a dialogue at a remote place while looking at the same screen.

The display device 1 will be described below with reference to FIGS.
The above display screen will be described. However, in the following description, the interlocutors are limited to A and B for convenience.

FIG. 2 shows the display devices 11A, 1 of the interlocutors A, B.
The example of a screen display on 1B is shown. The interactive material 22A displayed on the display device 11A by the interlocutor A is also displayed as the material 22a on the display device 1B of the interlocutor B. Further, the instruction cursor 23A for the interlocutor A to perform the screen operation is also displayed as the instruction cursor 23a at the same position on the display device 1B of the interlocutor B. Similarly, the pointing cursor 23 of the interlocutor B
B is displayed on the display device 1A of the interlocutor A as an instruction cursor 23b. Reference numerals 23c and 23d are pointing cursors of other interlocutors.

As can be understood from this example, when the pointing cursors of all the interlocutors are displayed on the display devices of all the other interlocutors, when the number of interlocutors is large, the number of pointing cursors on the display screen is large. The display screen becomes confusing, making it very difficult to see.

Now, the interlocutor A is, for example, the input device 13.
Pointing device (mouse, etc.) provided in A 27
By A, his / her pointing cursor 2 on the display device 11A
When 3A is moved, the corresponding instruction cursor 23a displayed on the display device of another interlocutor also moves.

When the pointing cursor is used to point to a corresponding part in the dialogue material, the pointing cursor needs to be displayed on the display devices of all the interlocutors, as shown in FIG. However, when the pointing cursor is used for menu operation on the self-screen, it is not necessary to display the pointing cursor on the display device of another interlocutor, but rather the movement of the pointing cursor is different from that of another interlocutor. Often gets in the way. Therefore, in such a case, it is preferable that the interlocutor does not display his or her pointing cursor on the display device of another interlocutor. An example of a procedure for switching display or non-display of the instruction cursor on the screen will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display screen when the interlocutor A switches his or her pointing cursor from non-display to display. When the interlocutor A specifies the ON portion 31 of the cursor display menu on the screen of the display device 11A by operating the pointing device 27A, the interlocutor A's pointing cursor 23A includes the interlocutor B's display device 11B. It is displayed as an instruction cursor 23a on all the display devices of other interlocutors in the room. However, as will be described later, when the number of pointing cursors already displayed has reached the maximum number, the display of the pointing cursor 23a is suppressed, and a message indicating that the pointing cursor 23a cannot be displayed is displayed on the display device 11A. By doing so, the number of pointing cursors displayed simultaneously can be controlled to be equal to or less than the set upper limit value.

FIG. 4 shows an example of screen display when the interlocutor A switches his or her pointing cursor from display to non-display. In this case, when the interlocutor A specifies the OFF portion 32 of the cursor display menu, the interlocutor B's display device 1
The instruction cursors 23a on all the display devices of other interlocutors in the conversation including 1B are erased and hidden. In this way, the pointing cursor that does not need to be displayed on the display device of another interlocutor can be hidden to make the display screen easier to see.

The display control process of the pointing cursor according to the operation of the interlocutor as described above, that is, the control process by the means 15 of the system unit 12 will be described. FIG. 4 shows this processing flow.

In step, the designation regarding the pointing cursor by the interlocutor is determined. ON of instruction cursor
When (display) is specified, it is confirmed in step that the self-instruction cursor is not already displayed on the display device of the other interlocutor, and in step, the value of the C counter that counts the indication cursor being displayed is set. If it is confirmed that the number of display of the pointing cursor does not exceed the set upper limit value, the process of displaying the own pointing cursor on the display device of the other interlocutor is performed in the step, and finally the step is performed. At C, the C counter is incremented by 1. However, in the step, when the instruction cursor of the interlocutor is displayed, if it is determined that the number of display of the instruction cursor exceeds the upper limit value, a message to that effect is displayed on the display device of the interlocutor, and the instruction cursor is displayed. Is not displayed. On the other hand, when OFF (non-display) of the instruction cursor is designated by the interlocutor, if it is confirmed in step that the self-instruction cursor is displayed on the display device of the other interlocutor, in step The process of erasing (hidden) the self-instruction cursor on the display device is performed, and finally the C counter is decremented by 1 in step.

The display state of the self-indicating cursor in the step is determined by, for example, a method of checking a flag holding the display state of the self-indicating cursor. Also, the processing of steps is actually
A command is sent from the calculation processing device of the interlocutor to the calculation processing device of another interlocutor via the communication line 2, and in response to this, the system device of the calculation processing device of another interlocutor displays / does not display the indication cursor. Display switching will be controlled. The method of synchronizing the position of the pointing cursor on each display device may be the same as the conventional method.

[0024]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in the dialogue system, it is necessary to show the other dialogue person only when it is necessary to show it to the other dialogue person for the purpose of pointing the corresponding portion of the dialogue material. By displaying the self-instruction cursor on the display device, it is possible to avoid complication of the screen due to the display of the unnecessary instruction cursor. As a result, it becomes easier to distinguish the pointing cursor operated by oneself and the pointing cursor of another interlocutor used for the explanation, and a great effect can be expected in terms of improving the operability of the interactive system and reducing erroneous operations.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a dialogue system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a screen display example in an interactive system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation for switching the instruction cursor from non-display to display on the screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an operation for switching the instruction cursor from display to non-display on the screen.

FIG. 5 shows a processing flow of display control of a pointing cursor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Calculation processing device 2 Communication line 11 Display device 12 System device 13 Input device 14 Communication control device 15 Means for display control of pointing cursor 23A, 23a Pointing cursor 23B, 23b of interlocutor A Pointing cursor of interlocutor B 27 Pointing device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of calculation processing devices having a display device are connected to each other by a communication line, and an arbitrary point on the screen of the display device of each calculation processing device can be remotely pointed by an instruction cursor from another calculation processing device. In the dialogue system,
A method for controlling the indication cursor display, characterized in that the indication cursor of its own calculation processing device is switched between display and non-display on a screen of a display device of another calculation processing device by remote control from each calculation processing device.