JPH0863316A - Method and device for supporting operation of equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a support method and device which can give an easy-to- understand explanation/guidance to a user for the operation of an electronic equipment by means of a screen interface. CONSTITUTION: In this operation support method, the input series of a user received at an input part 2 are stored in a prescribed number. Then a procedure is generated by application of the rules stored in a procedure generation rule storage part 6 and based on one or both of those stored input series and the state of an equipment. The generated procedure is stored together with its identifier and at the same time a button that can be selected by the input of the user is shown at a display part 1 in response to the identifier. When this button is selected, the procedure is carried out based on the identifier corresponding to the button.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an assisting technique for operating electronic equipment, and more particularly to an equipment operation assisting device for providing an easy-to-understand operating environment using a screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A help system is available as a supporting technology for operating electronic devices. The help system is suitable for users who are in the middle of operating a device and have an unexpected situation or do not know what to do to achieve the operation purpose. It displays various information and instructions. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, mainly in computers and word processors, online help has been widely used in which a manual for operating a device is immediately displayed on a screen when a user presses a predetermined key. In contrast,
In recent years, there is a technique such as balloon help that runs on a Macintosh computer of Apple Inc. in the United States, in which help is actively displayed from the device side even if the user does not request help. In this technique, when the user moves the cursor on the screen to the icon with the mouse, the explanation about the icon is automatically displayed. Thereby, the user can know what the icon means without actually performing a troublesome operation such as clicking and dragging the icon to understand the operation and meaning of the icon.

Another technique is to store the operation history of the user, infer the user's intention based on the operation history, and provide instruction contents suitable for the intention. As an example, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-236608. This technique discloses a technique of inferring a user's degree of learning based on an operation history and outputting an error message according to the degree of learning. For example, assuming that the user's degree of learning is 5 levels from 1 to 5,
The learning level of the user is inferred based on a rule such as "there is no error in the past operation history of the user and the learning level of the user is 5 unless the learning level is 5". If you have a high level of learning, output an error message for experts,
If the learning level is low, a message for beginners is output.

Further, as a method of assisting the operation of electronic equipment, a technique of limiting the commands that can be used according to the degree of learning of the user is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-11990. With this technique, only a small number of commands can be executed for a user with a low learning level, and various commands can be used as the learning level increases. As a result, a beginner can operate an electronic device in an environment where only basic functions can be used, and it is possible to avoid the problem that even basic functions cannot be used due to being confused by applied functions. Therefore, there is an effect that even a beginner can safely use the electronic device.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the above balloon help and the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 236608/1990,
Although the necessary information is automatically displayed even if the user does not request help, the content of help is only an explanation. Therefore, the user must read and understand the contents of the displayed help by himself and then perform all the operations himself. Furthermore, in the above balloon help, only explanations such as icons and menus can be obtained, and if the operation to achieve the user's purpose consists of multiple steps, the user must assemble the steps themselves. I have to. For example, consider a word processor in which when the user wants to change the input mode from "Romaji input" to "Kanji input", selection of an input setting icon, selection of a mode switching menu, and selection of an Kanji input mode must be performed in order. When balloon help is applied to this word processor, even if you hover the cursor over the input setting icon, only the explanation such as "Settings related to character input" will be displayed, and the user will only see this display. It is presumed that you can change from input to external characters, then click the input setting icon yourself, select the mode setting menu,
You have to click through the external character input mode selections. To deal with such a problem, for example, when the cursor is placed on the input setting icon, the device side actively indicates that it is possible to change to the external character input mode, which is a frequently used operation. If you want to change to the external character mode, it is possible to realize a function that provides a method that can be changed by a simple operation. Therefore, for example, a technology for actively displaying a message directly including the user's operation purpose such as changing to the external character mode, and realizing help for achieving the purpose by a simple operation if the user desires. Development is a challenge.

It is considered that the help system is applied when the user has various operation purposes when operating the electronic device. At this time, if it is attempted to display the message including the operation purpose and achieve the purpose by a simple operation as described above, the number of messages to be displayed becomes enormous. In addition, it is difficult for the device side to accurately infer the user's intention, and as a result of the inference, there are many candidate operation purposes,
There are many operation purposes to be displayed. On the other hand, even if a large screen is used for the interface, there is a limit to the number of operation purposes that the device can display at one time, and it is not possible to display all the operation purpose candidates obtained as a result of inference. For this problem, it is possible to display all the messages in order from the most important one, instead of displaying all the messages at the same time. When displaying the messages in sequence in this way, it is necessary to have a technique for controlling the display time of each message in accordance with the degree of importance and content of the message.

If the number of candidates for the operation purpose to be actively displayed from the device side to the user increases, the operation of the user may be disturbed even if each purpose is displayed in order as described above. . In such a case, there arises a problem that the user feels uncomfortable because unnecessary messages are displayed one after another. However, if the amount of messages is reduced, it will not be possible to provide appropriate support when the user is really in trouble. In addition, it is difficult for the device to automatically determine whether the user is in trouble. Therefore, it is an issue to develop a technology that is not bothersome to the user and can provide appropriate operation support by issuing messages one after another when in trouble.

The above-mentioned conventional technique, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1199.
No. 0 gazette attempts to deal with the degree of learning of the user by limiting the command basically without changing the interface. However, in the case of electronic devices used at home, there are functions that beginners and advanced users cannot use well. Beginners only have no idea how to use it, and the convenient high functionality is also useful for beginners. Therefore, it is an issue to develop the technology to make it easier to use by changing the usage itself according to the degree of learning of the user, rather than limiting the functions and commands.

The help system shown in the above-mentioned prior art is basically only explained to the user. However, as seen in actual educational settings, it is important for humans to practice in learning the operation method. For this reason,
Not only one-sided explanation but also technology to build a help system that allows the user to practice the operation is required.

If the user can practice the operation by using the help system, a technique for making the practice effective is newly required. As such a technique, the help system instruction seems to be like instruction by a human instructor for the user's operation, so that the user can feel a sense of familiarity and practice with a natural feeling. It is possible. Therefore, it is a challenge to develop the technology to realize more human practice guidance.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a rule for generating a procedure. And storing a predetermined number of user input sequences received by the input means, based on one or both of the stored input sequence and the device state. The procedure stored in the procedure generation rule storage means is applied to generate a procedure, the generated procedure is assigned an identifier and stored in the procedure storage means, and at the same time, the display means is associated with the identifier. A button that can be selected by the user's input is displayed on the screen of the screen, and the stored procedure is performed based on the identifier associated with the button when the button is selected. It is characterized in that retrieves and executes the procedure marked with the same identifier identifier and associated with the button of.

A second aspect of the invention is a display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a procedure generation rule for storing a rule for generating a procedure. It has a storage means and a procedure storage means for storing the procedure with an identifier, stores a predetermined number of user input sequences received by the input means, and stores the stored input sequence and device. Based on one or both of the states, a rule stored in the procedure generation rule storage means is applied to generate a procedure, and an identifier is added to the generated procedure and stored in the procedure storage means. A button that can be selected by a user input is displayed on the screen of the display means in association with the identifier, and the display limit time of this button is based on the procedure generation rule. To calculate by a predetermined operation, count the button display time when the button is displayed on the screen of the display means, and delete the button when the count result exceeds the button display limit time. It is characterized by.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a degree to which the user needs advice are set. And a advice generation rule storage unit that stores a rule for generating advice, stores a predetermined number of user input sequences received by the input unit, and stores the stored input sequence. Based on one or both of the sequence and the device status and the degree set in the advice degree setting means, a rule for generating advice is searched and executed from the advice generation rule storage means, and a rule for generating advice is searched for. The advice generated by the execution is displayed on the display means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating the electronic equipment on the screen, an input means for receiving an input from the user, and a user setting the skill level for operating the electronic equipment. And a skill level setting means, interface data storage means for accumulating screen data and graphic control procedures forming a part of the graphic interface as parts, and the user's input accepted by the input means and the skill level. A part is searched from the interface part storage means based on both the skill levels set by the setting means, and the searched parts are combined to form a graphic interface which is displayed on the display means. is there.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a graphic interface for operating an electronic device, a cursor-equipped display means for displaying a cursor indicating an input position on the screen, and a movement of the cursor by a user performing a predetermined operation, Pointing input means for inputting by at least one kind of predetermined operation other than the movement of the cursor, and a plurality of operation data including an identifier for identifying the state of the graphic interface, the position of the cursor, the type of operation, and a set of instruction data. It has a connected operation sequence and operation sequence storage means for combining and storing the operation purpose achieved by this operation sequence, displaying the candidates of the operation purpose for the electronic device on the cursor-equipped display means, and at least for the user. One is selected, an operation sequence is searched from the operation sequence storage means based on the selected operation purpose, The operation data is extracted one by one from the searched operation sequence, each time the operation data is extracted, the following processes (1) to (3) are sequentially performed, and the operation data is extracted until there is no operation data. . (1) The instruction data among the operation data is displayed on the display unit with cursor, the cursor position of the pointing input unit and the cursor position of the operation data are compared, and the display unit with cursor is based on the comparison result. Cursor position instruction processing to display a predetermined message on the screen. (2) The type of operation when the user performs an operation other than moving the cursor, and the type of operation of the operation data are compared, and both the comparison result and the comparison result performed in the process of (1) above are displayed. Based on this, an operation instruction process for displaying a predetermined instruction message given in advance on the cursor-attached display means. (3) A repetitive control process that is performed again from the process (1) when at least one of the comparison result performed in the process (1) and the comparison result performed in the process (2) is different.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a graphic interface for operating the electronic device, a cursor-equipped display means for displaying a cursor indicating an input position on the screen, and movement of the cursor by a user performing a predetermined operation, Pointing input means for inputting by at least one kind of predetermined operation other than the movement of the cursor, and a plurality of operation data including an identifier for identifying the state of the graphic interface, the position of the cursor, the type of operation, and a set of instruction data. The operation sequence connected means, operation sequence storage means for storing the operation purpose achieved by this operation sequence in combination, and instruction content storage means for storing the instruction message to be displayed to the user. The means for displaying the operation purpose for the electronic device is displayed on the means, the user is allowed to select at least one, and the selection is made. An operation sequence is searched from the operation sequence storage means on the basis of the operation purpose, operation data is sequentially fetched from the retrieved operation sequence, and each time the operation data is fetched, the following processes (1) to (3) are performed. Is sequentially performed and is repeated until there is no operation data to be taken out. (1) The instruction data of the operation data is displayed on the cursor-attached display means, and whether or not the cursor position of the pointing input means is different from the cursor position of the operation data is compared. When the two cursor positions are different, the first count is incremented by 1, the guidance message is retrieved from the guidance content storage means based on the comparison result of the first count and the cursor position, and the cursor-attached display means is displayed. Cursor position guidance processing to output to. (2) It is determined whether the type of operation when the user performs an operation other than moving the cursor and the type of operation of the operation data are different, and as a result of this determination, the two types of operation are different. The second count is incremented by 1, and the guidance message is retrieved from the guidance content storage means based on the second count, the result of the determination, and the comparison result of the cursor position performed in the process (1), and the cursor is searched. Operation instruction processing displayed on the attached display means. (3) A repetitive control process that is performed again from the process (1) when at least one of the comparison result performed in the process (1) and the comparison result performed in the process (2) is different.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a procedure is generated in accordance with one or both of a user's input sequence and / or device status, and a button is generated on the interface in association with this procedure. The generated button is associated with the procedure.If a button suitable for the user's operation purpose is generated, if the user selects the button, the procedure associated with the button is executed and the purpose is It is achieved automatically.

According to the second invention, the display time of the button displayed on the interface is determined. When this display time has passed, the displayed button is deleted. Therefore, even if the button displayed from the interface side is not useful to the user, if the user ignores it and continues the operation, the button is automatically erased over time. By deleting the buttons at a certain time in this way, even when displaying many buttons, the number of buttons to be displayed is limited, and the system is arranged so that the buttons are displayed in order from the most important ones at different times. Can be designed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the amount of advice given by the user from the interface side is generated by generating a message for advising the user based on the advice degree set by the advice degree setting means. Can be adjusted. Thus, when the user is not confident in operating the electronic device, the degree of advice is increased to perform the operation, and when the user is confident, the degree of advice is set to be low, so that there is an advantage that the operation is not disturbed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the component forming the screen interface is searched from the interface component storage means based on the user's skill level set by the skill level setting means. In this way, by searching for interface parts according to the user's skill level and combining the searched parts to form and display the interface, an interface according to the user's skill level is provided. As a result, beginners can operate with a simple interface by simply selecting the one that suits their purpose by setting the level low, and advanced users can use the interface such as advanced operation keys to efficiently use the device by setting the level high. The equipment can be operated.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, both the cursor position comparison and the operation type comparison are performed between the operation to be taught and the user's operation, so that the operation to be taught by the user's operation is performed. Can be determined. As a result of this judgment, if the user's operation is incorrect, a message indicating the mistake is output, and if correct, a message of praise can be output to encourage the user.

According to the sixth invention, the cursor position and the type of operation are compared between the operation to be taught and the user's operation, and at the same time, the user's cursor position and the type of operation are instructed. Count the number of different operations that should be performed.
The guidance data is retrieved from the guidance data storage means based on the counted result. By storing some guidance data such as guidance data of strict content or guidance data of gentle content in advance in the guidance data storage means, strict guidance can be given depending on the number of times the user performs an operation different from the one to be taught. Data and kind instruction data can be issued.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the first invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the first invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a display unit that displays an interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, 2 is an input unit that receives an input for operating the displayed interface as an input using a pointing device, and 3 is a use An electronic device control unit that changes an interface displayed on the display unit 1 and controls an electronic device based on a user's input. Reference numeral 4 is an electronic device controlled by the electronic device control unit 5, 5 is an input monitoring process for storing a predetermined number of user input sequences received by the input unit 2, and 6 is a rule for generating a procedure. The procedure generation rule storage unit 7 stores the sequence in accordance with the degree of preferential application, and the input generation sequence stored in the input monitoring process 5, one or both of the device states, and the procedure generation rule storage unit 7. A rule selection process for selecting a procedure generation rule based on the rule stored in 6, and a rule generation execution process 8 for generating a procedure based on the selected rule. Reference numeral 9 is a procedure accumulation process for storing the generated procedure with an identifier, and 10 is a button generation process for displaying on the display unit 1 buttons on the screen that can be selected by input from the input unit 2 in association with the identifier. ,
When a button displayed by the button generation process 10 is selected, 11 retrieves and executes an appropriate procedure from the procedure group stored in the procedure storage process 9 based on the identifier associated with the selected button. It is a procedure execution process.

A hardware configuration for executing the system configured as described above is shown in FIG. 2 is basically the same as the configuration of a general-purpose computer system, and includes the display unit 1 described as a component of the system configuration shown in FIG.
An input unit 2, an electronic device control unit 3, an electronic device 4, and a procedure generation rule storage unit 6 are provided. Of the components shown in FIG. 2, the same components as those of the system configuration shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 21 is a VRAM that stores data displayed on the display unit 1, 22 is a main storage device that stores programs and data for processing during execution, and 23 is an external storage device that stores programs and data. , 24 are CPUs that transfer the programs stored in the external storage device 13 to the main storage device 12 and execute them.

The operation of the device operation support method and apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Further, in this embodiment, a fusion device in which a home-use television and a home-use video are integrated is considered as an electronic device to be operated. [Step a1] A graphic interface for operating an electronic device is displayed on the display unit 1. For example, the operation interface as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. [Step a2] An input made by the user through the input unit 2 is accepted. In the present embodiment, a mouse, a cross key, or other pointing device is used to move the cursor on the screen. A symbol (object), which means a button displayed on the screen such as an icon, is displayed on the pointing device. Operate the electronic device by pressing a button that signifies selection. For example, to reproduce a video in FIG. 4, the cursor is moved to the reproduction button on the screen and the selection button attached to the pointing device is pressed. Further, in this step, when the user performs an operation which means to end the operation of the electronic device such as selecting a button for turning off the power, the operation of the device is ended. [Step a3] If the display unit 1 displays a button generated in step a15 (to be referred to as a dynamic button hereinafter), which will be described later, determines whether the operation accepted in step a2 is a dynamic button selection. To do. If the result of the determination is that a dynamic button has been selected, step
Go to a10. If the dynamic button is not selected, the process proceeds to step a4. If the dynamic button is not displayed on the display unit 1, the process proceeds to step a4. [Step a4] The operations accepted in step a2 are sequentially stored. In this embodiment, the operation is stored by a symbol string that identifies the operation content. For example, in the graphic interface shown in FIG. 4, operation contents such as selecting a play button are represented by a symbol string as shown in (Table 1).

[0027]

[Table 1]

However, (Table 1) also shows operations other than the operations on the buttons displayed in FIG. For example, consider the case where the user selects a button in the order shown by the numbers in FIG. In this case, for a series of operations in which the user has selected each button, a sequence of symbols such as {play, stop, ff, play, rew} for identifying the operation is stored.

Further, in this step, since the operations of the user are stored in order, the number of operations to be stored becomes huge as the user performs the operations. For this reason, when a new operation is stored after storing a predetermined number of operations, the oldest operation among the stored operations is erased. The number of operations to be stored is predetermined in consideration of hardware limitations and execution speed. For example, a number such as 10,20 is enough. After that, the number is set to 20 in this embodiment. In this step, the read end flag is set to 0 as a preparation for reading the rule from the procedure generation rule storage unit 6 in the next step a5. This read end flag is 0 or 1
A variable for remembering the value of 1 indicates that all the rules in the procedure generation rule storage unit 6 have been read out, and 0 indicates that there are still unread rules. [Step a5] One of the procedure generation rules stored in the procedure generation rule storage unit 6 is read. In this step, the procedure generation rule storage unit 6 is executed each time the step is executed.
The rules stored in are sequentially read one by one. As a result, all the stored rules are read while being repeatedly executed. The value of the read end flag is set to 1 when all the rules have been read so that it can be determined in step a7 that all the rules have been read.
Further, only when this step is executed for the first time after executing step a4, the first rule of the rules stored in the generation rule storage unit 6 is read again.

The generation rule stored in the procedure generation rule storage unit 6 includes a condition section and a conclusion section. The condition part describes the condition for firing the rule, and the conclusion part describes the procedure to be generated when the condition of the condition part is satisfied. If it is desired to fire the rules more preferentially, the priority rule is stored so as to be read first in this step. In this embodiment, the rule is given a rule name as an identifier, and the rule names are read out in this step. For example, if the rule name is R1, R2, ..., R1, R2, ... are read in that order. Therefore, if two rules A and B want to fire A preferentially over B, B is given a rule name that is read later than A. As a rule to be fired first, a rule for generating a dynamic button having more important contents, a rule for generating a dynamic button having meaningless contents if not displayed immediately, and the like can be considered. These orderings are set by the device operation support method or the designer of the device.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the generation rule used in this embodiment. R1 to R4 in FIG. 6 are rule names, and if is followed by a conditional part, th
The conclusion part is described after en. For example, rule R1
Indicates fast forward in the operation history stored in step a4.
ff, If the rew that indicates rewind is frequently repeated, it means that a procedure for executing the function to crawl from the current video tape position is generated. In the conclusion section, "Creation of head (before) and head (after)" is a function to advance from the current tape position to the beginning of the program found for the first time, and rewind from the current tape position. It means creating a procedure that realizes both the function of returning the tape to the beginning of the program found for the first time.
The content of the procedure is represented by a microcomputer program for controlling each electronic device, and is a program executable by the controlling microcomputer according to the function name described in the conclusion part of the procedure generation rule as shown in (Table 2) below. Is prepared in advance.

[0032]

[Table 2]

In Table 2, for example, "ch change (c
h) ”,“ ch ”of“ program 5 (ch) ”, a part of the program prepared as a program executable by the control microcomputer is prepared as a parameter, and there is a part that is embodied when the procedure generation rule is executed For example, like the condition part of R4 shown in Fig. 6, parameters that cannot be prepared in advance, such as the channel ch that the user always sees, are parameterized, and the channel is determined from the operation history of the user.
Generate a procedure by replacing the ch part with a specific numerical value. [Step a6] It is determined whether the stored user operation satisfies the condition part of the rule read in step a5. As a result of the determination, if the condition part is satisfied, the process proceeds to step a13, and if not satisfied, the process proceeds to step a7. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, ambiguous expressions such as "frequently" and "always" are used in the condition part of the rule. In contrast to such an ambiguous condition, in the present embodiment, for example, if 30% or more of 20 consecutive operations are a specific operation A, it is considered that the operation A is performed "frequently". Judge by threshold value. However, such ambiguous conditions may be processed by the fuzzy inference method.

As an example, the operation history of the user is {play, sto
p, ff, play, ff, play, ff, rew, stop, rew, play, rew, play, f
f, stop, ff, play, rew, ff, play, ff, stop, play}, the rule R1 is read in step a5. The condition "frequently" is 3 out of 20 new operations.
If it is 0% or more, the content is satisfied. At this time,
20 new operations from the above operation history {play, ff, play, f
f, rew, stop, rew, play, rew, play, ff, stop, ff, play, rew, f
f, play, ff, stop, play} is stored, 7 plays,
There are 6 ff, 4 rew, and 3 stop. Production R1
The condition part of is satisfied when ff and rew are frequently performed. On the other hand, of the 20 operations in this example,
The total of ff and rew is 10, which accounts for 30% or more. Therefore, the conditional part of R1 is satisfied. [Step a7] In step a5, it is determined whether all the rules have been read from the procedure generation rule storage unit 6. The determination method is to check whether the read end flag is 1 or 0. When the read end flag is 1, it is determined that all the rules have been read, and that there is no procedure to be created. At this time, the process proceeds to step a8. If the read end flag is 0, it is determined that there is a rule that has not been read, and the process returns to step a5. [Step a8] In this step, the electronic device control section 3 controls the electronic device in response to the user's operation.
For example, when the user selects the play button on the interface of FIG. 4, the video tape is played back. The control method does not have the characteristics of the present invention, and a general control method similar to that of a conventional electronic device may be used. [Step a9] In this step, the graphic interface displayed on the display unit 1 is updated according to the operation of the user. The update method is, for example, a button on the graphic interface for the user to make a scheduled recording of the video. To do. Such updating of the graphic interface is realized in advance as a program and stored in the external storage device 23. The realization of this program does not have the characteristics of the present invention and is the same as the normal graphic interface realization. For example, it can be easily realized by using Visual Basic, which is a language for creating an interface on a personal computer. [Step a10] This step is executed when the user's input in step a2 is the selection of a dynamic button. First, the identifier associated with the selected dynamic button is searched. This identifier will be used in the steps described below.
It is assigned at the time of procedure generation in a14, and is a
It is assigned one to one to the dynamic button at 15. Therefore, the identifier corresponding to the dynamic button selected by the user can be easily retrieved. [Step a11] In this step, step a16 described later
The procedure stored in step a10 is searched based on the identifier retrieved in step a10. As shown in FIG. 7, the procedure accumulated in step a16 is stored as a set of a procedure to be executed and an identifier. Therefore, for example, if the identifier obtained in step a10 is id3, the procedure "timer off" is searched. Further, in this embodiment, the procedure is a control program for the electronic device, and the procedure program name shown in FIG. 7 is the program name of the procedure. A program can be called and executed using this program name. [Step a12] In this step, the program name of the procedure retrieved in step a11 is called and the program is executed. [Step a13] The conclusion part of the production rule read in step a5 is executed. In the conclusion section, as shown in FIG.
The function of the electronic device such as "head start" is described. A control program for executing this function is generated.
This control program is prepared in advance except for some parameters and is stored together with the rules in the procedure generation rule storage unit 6. As shown in (Table 3), the storage format is a combination of a function name and a control program.

[0035]

[Table 3]

In this embodiment, the procedure name is described in the conclusion part of the procedure generation rule, and the program to be actually executed can be searched through the procedure name as shown in (Table 2). The program may be directly described in the conclusion part of the production rule. [Step a14] An identifier is assigned to the procedure generated in step a13. As the identifier, one that is not used for the dynamic button displayed on the display unit 1 at the time of executing this step is used. For example, two dynamic buttons are displayed on the display unit 1, and the identifiers assigned to each dynamic button are
If they are id1 and id2, id3 is assigned. [Step a15] In this step, the dynamic button associated with the procedure generated in step a13 is displayed on the display unit 1.
To display. The dynamic button displays a message that explicitly indicates to the user what procedure will be performed when the button is selected. For example, if the procedure created in step a13 is the beginning (after) of the tape, the dynamic button will "jump to the beginning of this program."
Is displayed. In this embodiment, the message attached to the dynamic button is defined in advance for each procedure as shown in (Table 4) and stored in the procedure generation rule storage unit 6. In this embodiment, the message attached to the dynamic button is prepared for each procedure as shown in (Table 4), but it may be prepared by directly adding it to the conclusion part of the procedure generation rule. For example, FIG. 8 shows an example in which two dynamic buttons are displayed at the upper left of the screen during video reproduction.

[0037]

[Table 4]

[Step a16] The procedure to which the identifier is assigned in step a14 is stored in the format of FIG. 7 as shown in the explanation of step a11.

Each unit of the present invention may be realized by software using a computer, or each function of each unit may be realized by using a dedicated hardware circuit.

Next, a system configuration of an embodiment of the second invention will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the system configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 9 has the same components as the system configuration of the first embodiment of the first invention shown in FIG. The detailed description will be omitted. The difference from the system configuration of the first invention is that a display time generation process 31 for generating the display time of the button based on the procedure generated in the rule generation execution process 8 for the button generated in the button generation process 10
Then, the displayed time of the button displayed on the display unit 1 is counted at a predetermined time interval, and when the display time generated by the display time generation process 31 is exceeded, the button is erased. The button erasing process 32 is provided.

The hardware configuration of an embodiment of the second invention is the same as that of the hardware configuration of the first invention shown in FIG.

The operation of the embodiment of the second aspect of the invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. First, description will be made with reference to the flowchart of FIG. [Step b1]-[Step b4] Step b1-Step
b4 is step a1 to step a4 of the first embodiment of the invention.
Perform the same process as. [Step b5] It is checked whether the number of dynamic buttons displayed on the display unit 1 exceeds a predetermined number. If yes, go to step b9; otherwise, go to step b6. [Step b6] to [Step b16] Steps b6 to b16 are the same as steps a5 to a15 of the first embodiment of the invention. [Step b17] The display time of the dynamic button is defined according to the procedure generated in step b14. In this embodiment, the display time is set to a predetermined time according to the procedure to be generated. For example, as shown in (Table 5), the procedure name and the display time are associated and stored in the procedure generation rule storage unit 6. The count used as a unit of display time in (Table 5) is the unit of the number of times the interrupt processing at constant time intervals, which will be described later, causes an interrupt. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the hardware configuration of a general-purpose computer is basically used, and the display time is expressed in units such as the number of clocks and seconds using a clock built in the computer or a clock. You can also In the present embodiment, the display time is prepared in advance as shown in Table 5 in correspondence with the procedure name, but the display time may be added directly to the conclusion part of the procedure generation rule.

[0043]

[Table 5]

[Step b18] The display time is stored in association with each dynamic button. For example, when three dynamic buttons are generated and the identifiers of the respective dynamic buttons are id1, id2, and id3, the identifier and the display time are stored as a set as shown in (Table 6).

[0045]

[Table 6]

[Step b19] The same processing as step a16 of the first embodiment of the present invention is performed.

Next, the operation of managing the display time of the dynamic button will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Even when the process indicated by is performed, the interrupt process is repeatedly executed at regular time intervals. [Step c1] It is checked whether or not one or more dynamic buttons are displayed on the display unit 1. When one or more dynamic buttons are displayed on the display unit 1, step
The process proceeds to c2, and if not displayed, the process ends.
Also, the value of the extraction end flag, which is a variable referred to in the determination at step c6, is initialized to 0. [Step c2] One dynamic button displayed on the display unit 1 is taken out. Taking out a dynamic button is not erasing the displayed one but deciding one dynamic button to be processed in step c3, step c4, and step c5 described later. In this step, each time it is called, the dynamic buttons being displayed are taken out one by one, and the extraction end flag is set to 1 when all the dynamic buttons are taken out. Also, when this step is executed for the first time after executing step c1, it is taken out from the first dynamic button again. [Step c3] To calculate the total display time for each dynamic button, 1 is subtracted from the display time assigned in step b17 of the flowchart of FIG. In this way, the remaining display time is calculated by sequentially subtracting one from the display time associated with the dynamic button. [Step c4] It is determined whether the display time assigned to the dynamic button is 0 or less. As a result, if the display time is 0 or less, step c5
Go to. When the display time is longer than 0, the process proceeds to step c6. [Step c5] The dynamic button taken out from the display section 1 in step c2 is erased. [Step c6] In step c2, it is determined whether all the dynamic buttons displayed on the display unit 1 have been taken out in order. The determination method is to check the value of the take-out completion flag, and if it is 1, it is decided that all the dynamic buttons have been taken out, and if it is 0, it is decided that there are still not taken out buttons. As a result of the judgment, if all the dynamic buttons have been taken out, the processing is terminated, and if there is a dynamic button not taken out yet, the process returns to step c2.

Each unit of the present invention may be realized by software using a computer, or each function of each unit may be realized by using a dedicated hardware circuit.

Next, the system configuration of an embodiment of the third invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Since the system configuration of the embodiment of the third invention shown in FIG. 12 has the same components as the system configuration of the embodiment of the first invention shown in FIG. The same numbers are assigned and detailed description is omitted. The difference from the configuration of the first invention is that an advice degree setting unit 41 that accepts the degree of advice required by a user to be input as an advice degree, an input sequence stored by the input monitoring process 5, and a device state. An advice generation process 42 for generating a message for advising the user based on one or both of them and the degree of advice received by the advice degree setting unit 41.
And the advice execution process 43 for displaying the message on the display unit 1.

FIG. 13 shows a hardware configuration for executing the system configured as described above. Note that FIG. 13 is basically the same as the configuration of a general-purpose computer system, and the hardware configuration of one embodiment of the first invention shown in FIG.
Since there are the same components as the system configuration shown in FIG. 12, the same reference numerals are given to those components and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Hardware configuration of an embodiment of the first invention, FIG.
The difference from the system configuration shown in FIG. 5 is that the advice generation rule storage unit 5 stores rules for generating advice.
1 is provided.

The operation of the third embodiment of the present invention constructed as above will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. [Step d1] In the present embodiment, the degree of advice that the user needs advice can be set in 11 steps which are integers of [0, 10], and in this step, the initial value is set. As an example, the initial value is initially set to 5, which is the middle value. The advice degree setting range may be a range other than [0, 10] as long as it is a predetermined range. [Step d2] to [Step d3] In this step, the same processing as step b1 to step b2 of the embodiment of the second invention is performed. [Step d4] It is determined whether or not the operation performed by the user in step d3 relates to setting the degree of advice. In the embodiment, the advice degree is displayed as a bar on the graphic interface as shown in FIG. 15, and the advice degree can be raised or lowered by dragging the bar with the mouse. The input unit for operating the graphic interface may be configured by a cross key on the remote controller or the like, and the advice degree may be set by a slide bar on the remote controller as shown in FIG. In this way, if the slide bar is used, the degree of advice can be easily changed when the user likes it.
The cross key of FIG. 16 is a pointing device for moving the cursor on the graphic interface. The pointing device is a tablet,
A trackball may be used. In addition to the slide bar, another method may be used to set the degree of advice as long as it is a method capable of setting a numerical value such as inputting a numerical value using the up / down key or the 10 key. [Step d5] In this step, the same processing as step b4 in the embodiment of the second invention is performed. [Step d6] In this step, one procedure generation rule stored in the advice generation rule storage unit 51 is read. In this step, the rules stored in the advice generation rule storage unit 51 are sequentially read, and it is a step that all the stored rules are read.
To be able to judge with d8. The method for making the determination in step d8 may be the method using a flag as shown in the embodiment of the second invention. Further, only when this step is executed for the first time after executing step d5, the first rule of the rules stored in the advice generation rule storage unit 51 is read again.

The generation rule stored in the advice generation rule storage section 51 is composed of a condition section and a conclusion section as shown in FIG. Further, "ad: number" attached to the generation rule indicates that the rule does not fire unless the advice level is higher than the number. The condition part of the production rule describes the condition for firing the rule, and the conclusion part provides the advice to be displayed when the condition of the condition part and the degree of advice are greater than or equal to the value specified by "ad: number". It is described by character string data. R5 to R8 in FIG. 17 are rule names for identifying each rule, and the conclusion part is described after the conditional part then after If. For example, rule R5
res that represents a reservation in the user's operation history stored in d5,
Operation to enter start time 9:00 start (9:00), end time 11:
If the operation end (11:30) to enter 30 is included,
The condition of the condition part is satisfied, and the message of the conclusion part is taken out as advice to be displayed. [Step d7] It is determined whether or not the stored user operation satisfies the condition for firing the rule extracted in step d6. As a result of the determination, if the condition part is satisfied, the process proceeds to step d12, and if not satisfied, the process proceeds to step d8. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, an ambiguous expression such as "frequently" is used in the condition part of the rule. For such an ambiguous condition, for example, if 30% or more of the 20 consecutive operations are a specific operation A, it is assumed that the operation A is performed "frequently". Judge by value. However, such ambiguous conditions may be processed by the fuzzy inference method.

An example of processing an ambiguous condition has been shown in the explanation of step a6 of the first embodiment of the present invention, so an example in which an ambiguous condition is not included will be described here. User operation history is (play, stop, ff, play, ff, play, ff, rew, st
op, rew, play, rew, play, ff, stop, ff, play, rew, ff, res, st
It is supposed to be art (9:00), end (11:30), rew} and the degree of advice is set to 10. In this case, it is assumed that R5 in FIG. 17 is taken out in step d6. At this time, it is found from the above operation history that the reserved recording start time is 9:00 and the end time is 11:30, and the time of the reserved recording program is 2 hours or more. Also, since the advice level is 9 or higher, the firing condition of R5 is satisfied. [Step d8]-[Step d10] In this step,
The same processing as steps b8 to b10 of the embodiment of the second invention is performed. [Step d11] This step is executed when it is determined in step d4 that the user's input is input for updating the degree of advice. Therefore, the degree of advice is updated according to the input. [Step d12] In this step, the message in the conclusion part of the rule determined to satisfy the firing condition in step d7 is extracted. For example, from the rule in Figure 17, R5
Is read in step d6 and if it is determined in step d7 that the firing conditions are satisfied, the message in the conclusion section ”
When you record important contents on a tape, you can fold the tabs on the bottom of the tape to prevent it from being erased by mistake. ” indicate.

Each unit of the present invention may be realized by software using a computer, or each function of each unit may be realized by using a dedicated hardware circuit.

The present invention can be combined with the first invention and the second invention. Next, a system configuration of an embodiment of the fourth invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Since the system configuration of the embodiment of the fourth invention shown in FIG. 18 has the same components as the system configuration of the embodiment of the first invention shown in FIG. The same numbers are assigned and detailed description is omitted. The difference from the configuration of the first invention is that a skill level setting unit 61 that accepts a user's skill level specification for an electronic device, an interface component memory unit 62 that accumulates screen data displayed on the display unit 1 as a component, The interface component selection process 63 that searches the interface component storage unit 62 for component data that forms the interface on the screen based on the skill level set by the skill level setting unit 61, and the component data searched by the interface component selection process 63. This is a display execution process 64 that is configured by using the interface and displays it on the display unit 1.

FIG. 19 shows a hardware configuration for executing the system configured as described above. Note that FIG. 19 is basically the same as the configuration of a general-purpose computer system, and the hardware configuration of one embodiment of the first invention shown in FIG.
Since the system configuration is the same as that of the system configuration shown in FIG. 18, the same numbers are given to the respective parts and detailed description thereof is omitted.

The operation of the embodiment of the fourth aspect of the invention configured as above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. [Step e1] In this embodiment, the user can set the skill level of the electronic device in 11 steps, which is an integer of [0, 10]. In this step, the initial value is set. As an example, the initial value is initially set to 5, which is the middle value. The skill setting range may be a range other than [0, 10] as long as it is a predetermined range. [Step e2] A component is selected from the interface component storage unit 62 based on the skill level. In the interface component storage unit 62, as shown in FIG. 21, a component name for identifying the component, screen data required to display the component, a component program for defining the operation, and skill for each component used in the search. The degrees are stored in pairs. The screen data also includes the size of the symbol to be actually displayed (length and width). The interface part is not only displayed but also a part of the graphic interface for the user, and is selected and operated by using the pointing device. At this time, what kind of function should be executed,
A component program describes how the interface is changed. In the example of FIG. 21, interface selection parts, intermediate selection parts, and the like are stored. In the example of FIG. 21, the beginner-level selection parts are parts for users with the lowest skill level. Provide an interface that can be achieved. For example, the interface as shown in FIG. 23A is realized by the beginner-level selection component. The intermediate selection parts select the operation purpose from three options, and the advanced selection parts select the operation purpose from four options. For example, FIG. 23B shows an example of the interface provided by the advanced selection component. In addition, the beginner-level button component is a component that includes all operation buttons other than video playback and stop in the application function button and provides an interface that is displayed only when the application function button is selected. The intermediate button part and the advanced button part display more buttons for advanced operation included in the advanced function button from the beginning than the beginner button part, and show an example of the interface provided by the intermediate button part. 23 (c).

In the method of searching the interface component, if the skill level set is x, the interface component storage unit 62 is searched for the skill level x. For example, when the skill level x = 0, the beginner-level selection parts are searched. [Step e3] Configure the interface components retrieved in step e2 into one graphic interface. In the example of FIG. 21, only one part is searched for one skill level, but a plurality of parts are designed to be searched. For example, in a device in which a TV and a video are integrated, even if the skill level is the same, the video-related items may be operated by the beginner-level selection parts and the TV-related items may be operated by the beginner-level buttons. In this case, the interface component storage unit 62 stores two components, a video beginner selection component and a television beginner button, with the same skill level. As a method of configuration, the interface components are arranged on the screen in a predetermined order. The layout is performed based on the size of the symbols included in the screen data so that the symbols do not overlap. For example, when the video beginner selection component and the television beginner button are searched at the same time, the former is placed above the screen and the latter is placed below the screen so that they do not overlap. [Step e4] The graphic interface constructed in step e3 is displayed on the display unit 1. [Step e5] In this step, the same processing as step d3 in the embodiment of the third invention is performed. [Step e6] It is determined whether or not the operation performed by the user in step e5 is related to the change of the skill level. In the example,
The skill level can be set with the slide bar on the remote control. For example, the same slide bar as that for setting the advice degree of the remote controller shown in FIG. 16 is used for setting the skill level. As described above, if the slide bar is used, the skill level can be easily changed when the user likes. Further, as shown in FIG. 23, the skill level may be displayed in a bar on the graphic interface, and the skill level may be increased or decreased by dragging the bar with the mouse. Such representation by the bar on the graphic interface has an advantage that it is not necessary to newly use a component such as a slide bar. It should be noted that the skill level may be set by any method other than the slide bar as long as it is a method capable of setting a numerical value such as inputting numerical values using the up / down keys or the 10 key. [Step e7] In this step, the same processing as step d9 in the embodiment of the third invention is performed. [Step e8] The user's input in step e5 is an input for updating the skill level, and the skill level is updated according to the input.

Each unit of the present invention may be realized by software using a computer, or each function of each unit may be realized by using a dedicated hardware circuit.

The present invention also relates to the first invention, the second invention,
It can be combined with the third invention.

Next, the system configuration of an embodiment of the fifth invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 24, reference numeral 71 denotes an interface for operating an electronic device, a cursor-equipped display portion for displaying a cursor indicating an input position on the screen, and 72 a movement of the cursor by a user performing a predetermined operation. A pointing input unit for inputting by at least one kind of predetermined operation other than the movement of the cursor, 73 is a display unit with cursor 71 for displaying candidates for the purpose of operating the electronic device, and the purpose of prompting the user to select at least one Selection process, 74
Is an operation sequence in which a plurality of operation data sets including the displayed interface status, cursor position, operation type, and instruction data set are connected, and the operation purpose achieved by the operation sequence is stored in combination. A storage unit, 75 is an operation sequence retrieval process for retrieving an operation sequence from the operation sequence storage unit 74 based on the operation purpose selected by the user in the purpose selection process 73, and 76 is a teaching operation for storing the retrieved operation sequence. A storage process, 77 is a current operation storage process for storing one operation data, 78 is a current operation initialization process for taking out one operation data from the teaching operation storage process 76 and storing it in the current operation storage process 77, and 79 is a current operation. An instruction display process for displaying instruction data among the operation data stored in the storage process 77 on the cursor-attached display unit 71; Is a position comparison process for comparing the cursor position when the user moves the cursor with the pointing input unit 72 and the cursor position of the operation data stored in the current operation storage process 77, and 81 is the pointing input unit 72. In the operation comparison process for detecting the type of operation when the user performs an operation other than the movement of the cursor and comparing it with the type of operation stored in the current operation storage process 77, 82 in the position comparison process 80 A position attention encouragement process for displaying predetermined instruction data given in advance on the display unit with a cursor 71 based on the comparison result, and 83 is based on both the comparison result in the position comparison process 80 and the comparison result in the operation comparison process 81. The predetermined instruction data given in advance is displayed on the display unit 7 with a cursor.
1, the operation caution encouragement process, 84 is a teaching operation storing process 76 based on both the comparison result in the position comparison process 80 and the comparison result in the operation comparison process 81.
It is a retrieval process for deciding whether or not to retrieve one operation from the operation sequence stored in 1. and fetching operation data and storing it in the current operation storage process 77 when it is decided to retrieve.

FIG. 25 shows a hardware configuration for executing the system configured as described above. Note that FIG. 25 is basically the same as the configuration of a general-purpose computer system, and the hardware configuration of one embodiment of the first invention shown in FIG.
The system is composed of the same components as those of the system configuration shown in FIG.

The operation of the fifth embodiment of the present invention configured as above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. [Step f1] In this step, the display unit with cursor 7
The candidate for the operation purpose is displayed in 1 and the user is prompted to select it. As the method of displaying the operation purpose, options are displayed as shown in FIG. [Step f2] In this step, the user selects the operation purpose using the cross key or the like from the options displayed in step f1. [Step f3] The operation string is searched according to the purpose selected by the user in step f2. The operation sequence is the operation sequence storage unit 74.
Search from. Data as shown in FIG. 28 is stored in the operation sequence storage unit 74, and a search using the operation purpose as a key can be easily performed. As described above, each operation that constitutes the operation sequence is
Cursor position, operation type, instruction data]. The interface status is a name given to each scene of the graphic interface switching on the screen. For example, the first screen displayed when the power is turned on is called the initial screen, and the interface status is the initial screen. I will call it. If the initial screen has a reservation button to enter the reservation mode, and if this button is pressed to enter a screen for entering information required for reservation, the screen is named a reservation screen. In the present embodiment, the cursor position is represented within or outside the range of the design of an object such as an icon displayed on the screen. For example, at the cursor position on the play button, the play button displayed on the display unit 1 is a rectangle and the xy coordinate on the screen is (10,
200), (10,230), (30,230), (30,200) with 4 vertices as vertices, within the range of 10 ≦ x ≦ 30,200 ≦ y ≦ 230
If the y coordinate is included, the cursor is on the play button.

The type of operation is an identification for identifying an operation such as pressing a button meaning selection after moving the cursor to a specific location, pressing a button having another meaning, or pressing the button twice in succession. Is the name. In FIG. 28 of the present embodiment, the type of operation for pressing the button indicating selection is represented as “selection”. The instruction data is character string data displayed as an instruction to the user as shown in FIG.

For example, when the user selects "reserved program recording" as the operation purpose, from the operation sequence storage section of FIG. 28, [initial screen, on reservation button, select, "please press reservation button" ] → [Reservation information input screen, on the start time setting button, select, "Press the start time setting button to enter the start time of the program to reserve"] → ...
Will be searched. [Step f4] The operation sequence retrieved in step f3 is temporarily stored. The storage location may be on the main storage or the external storage. [Step f5] The first operation is extracted from the operation sequence stored in step f4. For example, as shown in the example in the description of step f3, when the operation sequence for recording the program in advance is searched in step f3, the first operation [initial screen, on the reservation button, select, "Please press the reservation button"]. Steps taken out
Delete from the operation sequence stored in f4. In addition, each time this step is called, the operation is fetched one by one from the operation sequence stored in step f4, so there is no operation to be finally fetched. When there are no more operations to be taken out in this way, the processing ends. [Step f6] The instruction data included in the operation is displayed on the display unit 1. For example, when the operation [initial screen, on reservation button, selection, "please press reservation button"] is retrieved in step f5, the instruction data "please press reservation button" is displayed. [Step f7] The operation performed by the user is detected. What is detected is the position of the destination when the operation is the movement of the cursor, and the type of operation when the operation is an operation other than the movement of the cursor. Also, this step stops execution and waits until the user performs some operation. [Step f8] If the user operation detected in step f7 is cursor movement, the process proceeds to step f9, and if not, the process proceeds to step f12. [Step f9] In this step, the cursor position of the operation extracted in step f5 is compared with the cursor position detected in step f7. Whether the cursor positions are the same or not is used because the cursor position included in the operation fetched in step f5 is given as the range of the pattern of the object on the screen as shown in the description of step f3. If the cursor position moved by the person is included, it is determined that the cursor position is the same. As a result of the judgment,
The cursor position and step of the operation retrieved in step f5
If the cursor position detected by f7 is different, step
If it is the same, go to step f11. [Step f10] A previously prepared message indicating that the cursor position is wrong is displayed on the display unit 1. For example, a message such as "The cursor position is incorrect" is displayed. [Step f11] A message prepared in advance and notifying that the cursor position is correct is displayed on the display unit 1. For example, a message such as "There, it is fine at that position" is displayed. [Step f12] In this step, the type of operation extracted in step f5 and the type of operation detected in step f7 are compared. If the operation types are the same, step f14
If not, go to step f13. For example, when the type of operation extracted in step f5 is "selection" and the operation detected in step f7 is an operation other than selection, the process proceeds to step f13. [Step f13] A message, which is prepared in advance and points out that the type of operation is wrong, is displayed on the display unit 1.
For example, when the detected operation type is A, a message such as "Operation A is wrong" is displayed. [Step f14] A message prepared in advance and notifying that the type of operation is correct is displayed on the display unit 1. For example, a message such as "That is in good order. Please do your best" is displayed.

Each unit of the present invention may be realized by software using a computer, or each function of each unit may be realized by using a dedicated hardware circuit.

Next, the system configuration of an embodiment of the sixth invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The system configuration of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 29 has the same components as the system configuration of the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 24. The same numbers are assigned and detailed description is omitted. The difference from the configuration of the fifth invention is that the position error count process 91 that counts the number of times when the comparison result of the position comparison process 80 satisfies a predetermined condition and the comparison result of the operation comparison process 81 satisfies the predetermined condition. An operation error counting process 92 that counts the number of times the case is satisfied, an instruction content storage unit 93 that accumulates the content of instruction to the user,
Based on the comparison result of the position comparison process 80 and the count result of the position error counting process 91, the guidance data is retrieved from the guidance content storage unit 93 and displayed on the cursor-attached display unit 71. Comparison result in process 80, operation comparison process 81
That is, a counting operation caution encouraging process 95 is provided for searching guidance data from the guidance content storage unit 93 based on the comparison result of the operation error count process 92 and displaying the guidance data on the cursor-attached display unit 71.

FIG. 30 shows a hardware configuration for executing the system configured as described above. Note that FIG. 30 is basically the same as the configuration of a general-purpose computer system, and is composed of the hardware configuration of one embodiment of the fifth invention shown in FIG. 25 and the same configuration parts as the system configuration shown in FIG. Therefore, the same numbers are assigned to the respective parts, and detailed description will be omitted.

The operation of the sixth embodiment of the present invention constructed as above will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. [Step g1] to [Step g9] The same processes as steps f1 to f9 in the flowchart of the embodiment of the fifth invention shown in FIG. 26 are performed. [Step g10] Count the number of position errors. The counting method is realized by a general method in which one variable is prepared and its value is sequentially increased. [Step g11] The guidance data is retrieved from the guidance content storage unit 93. When searching, the value of the variable that counts the number of position errors is referenced. FIG. 3 shows the instruction content storage unit 93.
Data such as 2 is accumulated. Search method is "
Retrieval is performed when the attribute value of “position error or operation error” is “position error” and the number of position errors satisfies the condition stored as the attribute value of the number of errors. For example, if the number of position errors is 10 times. For example, search for “I'm totally different. Let's settle down” as instruction data. [Step g12] to [Step g13] Fifth step shown in FIG.
The same process as step f11 to step f12 in the flowchart of the embodiment of the invention is performed. However, in step g12, the number of position errors is cleared to zero. [Step g14] Count the number of operation errors. The counting method is realized by a general method in which one variable is prepared and its value is sequentially increased. [Step g15] The instruction data is retrieved from the instruction content storage unit 93. When searching, the value of the variable that counts the number of operation errors is referred to. In the search from the instruction content storage unit 93, the attribute value of "position error or operation error" is "operation error".
And the number of operation errors satisfies the condition stored as the attribute value of the number of errors. For example, in the example of FIG. 32, if the number of operation errors is 10, the search instruction data is "I am doing completely different operations. Let's settle down." [Step g16] The same process as step f14 in the flow chart of the embodiment of the fifth invention shown in FIG. 26 is performed. However, the number of operation errors is cleared to 0 in this step.

Each unit of the present invention may be realized by software using a computer, or each function of each unit may be realized by using a dedicated hardware circuit.

[0075]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the dynamic button is actively displayed from the device side while the user is operating the electronic device. The dynamic buttons include convenient functions, etc., so that the user can newly know the existence of functions that have never been used before. Further, the user can execute the function displayed as the dynamic button only by selecting the dynamic button. As a result, application functions that were not even known to exist in the conventional equipment without reading the manual beforehand become noticeable during use, so that the manual can be used without reading it. become. Also, even if a function already known to the dynamic button is shown, it can be executed by a simple operation such as selecting a button, so even if it is a complicated function, it can be operated with a small number of steps. Benefits are obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even when a large number of dynamic buttons are displayed, the display positions of the dynamic buttons are limited to a certain range because the display is sequentially shifted by a certain number or more in order. be able to. As a result,
There is an advantage that the user is not disturbed by the operation performed on the screen.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the user can freely set the degree of advice to restrict the active action from the device side. When a user operates an electronic device, he / she may be confident in an operation related to a certain function, and may not be confident in the operation regarding another function which is not often used. If you are confident in the operation,
When it is desired to concentrate on the operation, the operation can be prevented from being disturbed by setting the advice degree low. In addition, if the user is not confident in the operation or wants to use the application function if he / she wants to use it, by setting a high degree of advice, it is possible to receive help from the device and introduction of the application function. As a result, the device can be used effectively.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the user can freely set the skill level to freely use an easy-to-understand interface to an efficient interface. In general, an easy-to-understand interface is limited in what it can do at one time, and the terminology is polite for beginners, resulting in a large number of operations, which is inefficient. On the other hand, an interface that can be operated efficiently has a drawback that detailed explanations are omitted, terms and operations are specialized, and various things can be done at once, but it is difficult to understand. In addition, it is convenient for beginners to use high-performance functions such as the cue function in video, and there are many functions that even beginners essentially want to use. In the fourth invention, by setting the skill level,
Rather than restricting the functions that can be used, the easiness of the interface is changed.Because beginners can use all functions with an inefficient but easy-to-understand interface, advanced users can use the equipment with an efficient interface only for experts. can get. As a result, even when a plurality of users use one electronic device in a home where the age groups of users are wide, all users can use it individually.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, not only can the explanation of how to use it be given on the screen of the device like the conventional help, but also the practice of the operation can be actually practiced on the interface.
In addition, when practicing, the indication for the wrong operation is displayed, so that a situation in which a human instructor is actually being received can be obtained. As a result, learning of the operation method is promoted as compared with simply learning the usage while reading the instruction manual.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, when practicing the operation method on the interface, attention and encouragement can be obtained for wrong and correct operations. In particular, the content of attention and encouragement changes depending on the number of times the user makes a mistake in the operation, so that the situation becomes very close to the situation where a human instructor is actually practicing and the learning is promoted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a device operation support method and device according to an embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a device operation support method in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a graphic interface in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation example of a graphic interface in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a description example of a procedure generation rule stored in a procedure generation rule storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a correspondence diagram showing an example of correspondence between an identifier and a procedure in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a dynamic button in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a device operation support method according to an embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the device operation support method in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a dynamic button display time management operation in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a device operation support method according to an embodiment of the third invention.

FIG. 13 is a hardware configuration diagram according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a device operation support method and an operation procedure of the device in the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an advice degree display and a display of a setting unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of an advice degree setting unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a description example of an advice generation rule stored in an advice generation rule storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a device operation support method according to an embodiment of the fourth invention.

FIG. 19 is a hardware configuration diagram in the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the device operation support method in the embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a description example of interface components stored in an interface component storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a view showing a display example of a graphic interface configured by interface components searched according to the skill level in the embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a display example on the graphic interface of the skill level setting unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a device operation support method according to an embodiment of the fifth invention.

FIG. 25 is a hardware configuration diagram in the example.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the device operation support method in the embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a display example in the purpose selection process in the embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a description example of an operation sequence stored in the operation sequence storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a device operation support method according to an embodiment of the sixth invention.

FIG. 30 is a hardware configuration diagram in the example.

FIG. 31 is a flow chart showing an operation procedure of the device operation support method in the embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a description example of guidance content stored in a guidance content storage unit in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 display unit 2 input unit 3 electronic device control unit 4 electronic device 5 input monitoring process 6 procedure generation rule storage unit 7 rule selection process 8 rule generation execution process 9 procedure accumulation process 10 button generation process 11 procedure execution process 21 VRAM 22 main memory Device 23 External storage device 24 CPU 31 Display time generation process 32 Button deletion process 41 Advice degree setting unit 42 Advice generation process 43 Advice execution process 51 Advice generation rule storage unit 61 Skill level setting unit 62 Interface component storage unit 63 Interface component selection process 64 Display Execution Process 71 Display Unit with Cursor 72 Pointing Input Unit 73 Objective Selection Process 74 Operation Sequence Storage Unit 75 Operation Sequence Search Process 76 Teaching Operation Storage Process 77 Current Operation Memory process 78 Current operation initialization process 79 Instruction display process 80 Position comparison process 81 Operation comparison process 82 Position attention encouragement process 83 Operation attention encouragement process 84 Extraction process 91 Position error count process 92 Operation error count process 93 Instruction content storage unit 94 Count Position Attention Encouragement Process 95 Counting Operation Attention Encouragement Process

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Tanaka 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a procedure generation rule storage means for storing a rule for generating a procedure. The electronic device is controlled based on the input of the user accepted by the input unit, the graphic interface displayed on the display unit is changed based on the input of the user, and the input of the user is changed. Store a predetermined number of series,
A procedure stored in the procedure generation rule storage means is applied to generate a procedure based on one or both of the stored input sequence and device state, and the generated procedure is stored with an identifier. At the same time, a button that can be selected by user input is displayed on the screen of the display means in association with this identifier, and when this button is selected, it is the same as the identifier associated with the button among the stored procedures. A device operation support method characterized by searching for and executing a procedure with an identifier. 2. A display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a procedure generation rule storage means for storing a rule for generating a procedure. The electronic device is controlled based on the input of the user accepted by the input unit, the graphic interface displayed on the display unit is changed based on the input of the user, and the input of the user is changed. Store a predetermined number of series,
A rule stored in the procedure generation rule storage means is applied to generate a procedure based on one or both of the stored input sequence and device state, and the generated procedure is stored with an identifier. At the same time, a button that can be selected by user's input is displayed on the screen of the display means in association with this identifier, and when this button is selected, it is the same as the identifier associated with the button among the stored procedures. An apparatus operation support device comprising means for retrieving and executing a procedure with the identifier. 3. A display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a procedure generation rule storage means for storing a rule for generating a procedure. The electronic device is controlled based on the input of the user received by the input unit, the graphic interface displayed on the display unit is changed based on the input of the user, and the series of the input of the user is predetermined. Memorize only the number of
Based on one or both of the stored input sequence and device state, a rule stored in the procedure generation rule storage means is applied to generate a procedure, and the generated procedure is given an identifier and the At the same time as being stored in the procedure storage means, a button that can be selected by the user's input is displayed on the screen of the display means in association with this identifier, and the display limit time of this button is set by a predetermined operation based on the procedure generation rule. Calculate, count the display time of the button when the button is displayed on the screen of the display means,
When the count result exceeds the display limit time of the button, the button is erased, and when the button displayed on the screen of the display means is selected by the user, it is selected from the stored procedures. A device operation support method characterized by searching for and executing a procedure having the same identifier as an identifier associated with a button. 4. A display unit for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input unit for receiving an input from a user, and a procedure generation rule storage unit for storing a rule for generating a procedure. The electronic device is controlled based on the input of the user accepted by the input unit, the graphic interface displayed on the display unit is changed based on the input of the user, and the input of the user is changed. Store a predetermined number of series,
Based on one or both of the stored input sequence and device state, a rule stored in the procedure generation rule storage means is applied to generate a procedure, and the generated procedure is given an identifier and the At the same time as being stored in the procedure storage means, a button that can be selected by the user's input is displayed on the screen of the display means in association with this identifier, and the display limit time of this button is set by a predetermined operation based on the procedure generation rule. Calculate, count the display time of the button when the button is displayed on the screen of the display means,
When the count result exceeds the display limit time of the button, the button is erased, and when the button displayed on the screen of the display means is selected by the user, it is selected from the stored procedures. An apparatus operation support device comprising means for searching and executing a procedure having an identifier identical to an identifier associated with a button. 5. A display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and an advice degree setting for setting a degree to which the user needs advice. Means and an advice generation rule storage means for storing a rule for generating advice, controlling the electronic device based on the input of the user accepted by the input means, and displaying the display based on the input of the user. Changing the graphic interface displayed on the means, storing a predetermined number of the user's input sequence,
Based on one or both of the stored input sequence and the state of the device, and the degree set in the advice degree setting means, a rule for generating advice is retrieved from the advice generation rule storage means and executed. A device operation support method, wherein the advice generated by execution is displayed on the display means. 6. A display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and an advice degree setting for setting a degree to which the user needs advice. Means and an advice generation rule storage means for storing a rule for generating advice, controlling the electronic device based on the input of the user accepted by the input means, and displaying the display based on the input of the user. Changing the graphic interface displayed on the means, storing a predetermined number of the user's input sequence,
Based on one or both of the stored input sequence and the state of the device and the degree set in the advice degree setting means, a rule for generating advice is searched and executed from the advice generation rule storage means, An apparatus operation support device comprising means for displaying the advice generated by execution on the display means. 7. A display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a skill level setting function for setting a skill level for the user to operate the electronic device. Means and interface data storage means for accumulating screen data and graphic control procedures forming a part of the graphic interface as parts, and controlling electronic equipment based on the user's input accepted by the input means. , A component is searched from the interface component storage means based on both the user's input and the skill level set by the skill level setting means, and the searched parts are combined to form a graphic interface to display the display means. A device operation support method characterized by being displayed on the screen. 8. A display means for displaying a graphic interface for operating an electronic device on a screen, an input means for receiving an input from a user, and a skill level setting function for setting a skill level for the user to operate the electronic device. Means and interface data storage means for accumulating screen data and graphic control procedures forming a part of the graphic interface as parts, and controlling electronic equipment based on the user's input accepted by the input means. , A component is searched from the interface component storage means based on both the user's input and the skill level set by the skill level setting means, and the searched parts are combined to form a graphic interface to display the display means. An apparatus operation support device comprising means for displaying on a device. 9. A graphic interface for operating an electronic device, a cursor-equipped display means for displaying a cursor indicating an input position on a screen, a user moving the cursor by a predetermined operation, and other than moving the cursor. A pointing input means for inputting by at least one or more kinds of predetermined operations, and an operation string in which a plurality of operation data including an identifier for identifying the state of the graphic interface, a cursor position, an operation type, and a set of instruction data are connected. And operation sequence storage means for storing the operation purpose achieved by this operation sequence in combination, the operation purpose candidates for the electronic device are displayed on the cursor-equipped display means, and at least one is selected for the user. And retrieves the operation sequence from the operation sequence storage means based on the selected operation purpose, and the retrieved operation sequence Operation data from 1
An operation support method characterized in that the following processes (1) to (3) are sequentially performed every time operation data is extracted, and the process is repeated until there is no operation data to be extracted. (1) The instruction data among the operation data is displayed on the display unit with cursor, the cursor position of the pointing input unit and the cursor position of the operation data are compared, and the display unit with cursor is based on the comparison result. (2) Compare the type of operation and the type of operation of the operation data when the user performs an operation other than moving the cursor, and display the predetermined message in (1). ), Based on both of the comparison results performed in the process, the operation instruction process of displaying a predetermined instruction message given in advance on the display device with a cursor, (3) the comparison result performed in the process of (1) and A repetitive control process performed again from the process of (1) when at least one of the comparison results obtained in the process of (2) is different. 10. A graphic interface for operating an electronic device, a cursor-equipped display means for displaying a cursor indicating an input position on a screen, a user moving the cursor by a predetermined operation, and other than moving the cursor. A pointing input means for inputting by at least one or more kinds of predetermined operations, and an operation string in which a plurality of operation data including an identifier for identifying the state of the graphic interface, a cursor position, an operation type, and a set of instruction data are connected. And operation sequence storage means for storing the operation purpose achieved by this operation sequence in combination, the operation purpose candidates for the electronic device are displayed on the cursor-equipped display means, and at least one is selected for the user. Then, an operation sequence is retrieved from the operation sequence storage means based on the selected operation purpose, and the retrieved operation is performed. 1 operation data from the column
An operation support device comprising means for sequentially taking out the operation data one by one, repeating the following processes (1) to (3) each time the operation data is taken out, and repeating the operation data until there is no operation data to be taken out. (1) The instruction data among the operation data is displayed on the display unit with cursor, the cursor position of the pointing input unit and the cursor position of the operation data are compared, and the display unit with cursor is based on the comparison result. (2) Compare the type of operation and the type of operation of the operation data when the user performs an operation other than moving the cursor, and display the predetermined message in (1). ), Based on both of the comparison results performed in the process, the operation instruction process of displaying a predetermined instruction message given in advance on the display device with a cursor, (3) the comparison result performed in the process of (1) and A repetitive control process performed again from the process of (1) when at least one of the comparison results obtained in the process of (2) is different. 11. A graphic interface for operating an electronic device, a cursor-equipped display means for displaying a cursor representing an input position on a screen, a user moving the cursor by a predetermined operation, and other than moving the cursor. An input sequence in which a plurality of operation data including an identifier for identifying the state of the graphic interface, the position of the cursor, the type of operation, and a set of instruction data are connected by a pointing input means for inputting by at least one kind of predetermined operation And an operation sequence storage means for storing the operation purpose achieved by this operation sequence in combination, and an instruction content storage means for storing an instruction message to be displayed to the user. Display the candidates for the operation purpose, prompt the user to select at least one, and select the operation purpose The operation sequence storage means is searched for an operation sequence based on the
An operation support method characterized in that the following processes (1) to (3) are sequentially performed every time operation data is extracted, and the process is repeated until there is no operation data to be extracted. (1) The instruction data of the operation data is displayed on the cursor-attached display means, and whether or not the cursor position of the pointing input means is different from the cursor position of the operation data is compared. When the two cursor positions are different, the first count is incremented by 1, the guidance message is retrieved from the guidance content storage means based on the comparison result of the first count and the cursor position, and the cursor-attached display means is displayed. (2) It is determined whether or not the type of operation and the type of operation of the operation data differ when the user performs an operation other than moving the cursor, and the result of this determination When the two types of operation are different, the second count is incremented by 1, and based on the second count, the result of the determination, and the comparison result of the cursor position performed in the process of (1) above. The guidance message is retrieved from the guidance content storage means and displayed on the cursor-attached display means, (3) The comparison result performed in the processing of (1) and the comparison performed in the processing of (2). Repeated control processing performed again from the processing of (1) when at least one of the results is different. 12. A graphic interface for operating an electronic device, a cursor-equipped display means for displaying a cursor representing an input position on a screen, a user moving the cursor by a predetermined operation, and other than moving the cursor. A pointing input means for inputting by at least one or more kinds of predetermined operations, and an operation string in which a plurality of operation data including an identifier for identifying the state of the graphic interface, a cursor position, an operation type, and a set of instruction data are connected. And an operation sequence storage means for storing the operation purpose achieved by this operation sequence in combination, and an instruction content storage means for storing an instruction message to be displayed to the user. Display the candidates for the operation purpose, prompt the user to select at least one, and select the operation purpose The operation sequence storage means is searched for an operation sequence based on the
An operation support device comprising means for sequentially taking out the operation data one by one, repeating the following processes (1) to (3) each time the operation data is taken out, and repeating the operation data until there is no operation data to be taken out. (1) The instruction data of the operation data is displayed on the cursor-attached display means, and whether or not the cursor position of the pointing input means is different from the cursor position of the operation data is compared. When the two cursor positions are different, the first count is incremented by 1, the guidance message is retrieved from the guidance content storage means based on the comparison result of the first count and the cursor position, and the cursor-attached display means is displayed. (2) It is determined whether or not the type of operation and the type of operation of the operation data differ when the user performs an operation other than moving the cursor, and the result of this determination When the two types of operation are different, the second count is incremented by 1, and based on the second count, the result of the determination, and the comparison result of the cursor position performed in the process of (1) above. The guidance message is retrieved from the guidance content storage means and displayed on the cursor-attached display means, (3) The comparison result performed in the processing of (1) and the comparison performed in the processing of (2). Repeated control processing performed again from the processing of (1) when at least one of the results is different.