JPH11353118A - Information input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To input information that a touch panel operator desires even when the gaze of the touch panel operator at a display surface is not at a standard position. SOLUTION: A gaze position estimation part 17 finds position data on the head of the touch panel operator from detection signals from sensors 5 and 7 and estimates the gaze position of the touch panel operator by using data representing the display area of image information on the display surface 9 from an input information processing/image information selective output part 21. A correspondence correction part 19 corrects the correspondence between two-dimensional coordinate value data representing respective positions on the display screen 9 and two-dimensional coordinate value data representing respective positions on the surface area of the touch panel 11 with the estimated value of the gaze position so that the surface area of the touch panel 11 corresponding to the display area of the image information on the display surface 9 is positioned on the gaze position. A process/output part 21 discriminates which image information on the display surface 9 the electric signal from the touch panel 11 corresponds to according to the information from the correction part 19, interprets the meaning of the electric signal according to corresponding specific image information, and stores the interpretation result as input information in an input information storage part 25.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information input device applied to a terminal device such as an automatic teller machine (ATM) at a bank or an automatic ticket vending machine at a railway station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of information input device,
When touching the surface of the touch panel covering the display surface in an attempt to touch various image information (icons) on the display surface, the touch object detection function of the touch panel is activated to generate an electric signal,
There is known a device in which the electric signal is input to a terminal as information corresponding to image information being displayed.

[0003]

By the way, in the information input device having the above structure, coordinate value data (x, y) indicating each position on the display surface, and coordinate value data indicating each position on the surface of the touch panel. (X, y) are stored in the terminal memory or the like in association with each other (that is, in a table format). Therefore, by referring to the table, the CPU of the terminal recognizes that the input electric signal is output from the surface area of the touch panel corresponding to the image information. However, the correspondence between the two coordinate data is set on the assumption that a user of a standard height operates the touch panel in a standard posture, and for example, a relatively short user operates the touch panel. It is not assumed that the user operates the touch panel in an unusual posture even if the user has a standard height. Moreover, in the above device, the angle between the line of sight and the display surface is set to 90 degrees based on the line of sight of the user when the user of the standard height operates the touch panel in the standard posture. The posture is fixed.

Therefore, when the angle between the user's line of sight and the display surface is not 90 degrees as described above, the user touches the surface area of the touch panel which does not correspond to the display area of the image information selected by the user. become. As a result, there is a concern that a problem may occur that an electric signal generated in a surface area of the touch panel corresponding to a display area of another image information is input to the terminal.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information input device capable of inputting information desired by a touch panel operator even when the position of the line of sight of the touch panel operator with respect to the display surface is not a standard position. It is in.

[0006]

An information input device according to a first aspect of the present invention is provided with a display unit for displaying image information, and a surface area provided at a position covering the display surface of the display unit and corresponding to the display surface. A touch panel having a function of detecting a contact object over the whole, and a surface area of the touch panel corresponding to a specific area on a display surface displaying image information is positioned on a line of sight of a touch panel operator who views the image information. Means for adjusting the correspondence between the specific region and the surface region so that the surface region becomes the target region.

According to the above arrangement, the surface area of the touch panel corresponding to the specific area on the display surface displaying the image information is the surface area positioned on the line of sight of the touch panel operator who views the image information. The correspondence between the specific area and the surface area is adjusted. Therefore, even when the position of the line of sight of the touch panel operator with respect to the display surface is not a standard position, it is possible to input information desired by the touch panel operator.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention, the associating adjustment means performs the above-described adjustment based on the gaze position of the touch panel operator estimated from the detection result of the head position of the touch panel operator. I do. The adjustment is performed by changing the surface area of the touch panel positioned on the line of sight of the touch panel operator to be a surface area corresponding to the display area of the image information on the display surface.

In the modification according to the embodiment, the adjustment is performed such that the display area of the image information on the display surface is changed to a display area corresponding to the surface area of the touch panel touched by the touch panel operator. This is done by:

In the above-described embodiment or a modification of the above-described embodiment, the adjustment is performed by first data indicating each position on the display surface of the display unit stored in advance in association with the storage unit; This is performed by referring to the second data indicating each position on the surface area of the touch panel. Further, the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed using at least two or more optical sensors or ultrasonic sensors.

In another modification of the above-described embodiment, the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed using a single imaging device having a solid-state imaging device, and the line of sight of the touch panel operator is detected. The position estimation is based on the eyeball position of the touch panel operator obtained by performing predetermined processing on the image information from the imaging device, and the distance between the imaging device and the head position obtained from the autofocus function of the imaging device. It is done based on.

In still another modification according to the above-described embodiment, the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed by using two imaging devices including the solid-state imaging device, and the touch panel operator's head is detected. The gaze position is estimated based on the eyeball position of the touch panel operator for each piece of image information obtained by performing a predetermined process on each piece of image information output from each image pickup device, and the distance between the image pickup devices. This is performed after the position of the eyeball is specified by a surveying method.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information input device comprising: a display portion which is supported so as to be displaceable so that a display surface faces the front; A touch panel having a function of detecting a contact object over the touch panel, and a surface area of the touch panel corresponding to a specific area on the display surface displaying the image information is positioned on a line of sight of a touch panel operator who views the image information Means for adjusting the angle of the display surface with respect to the line of sight so as to form a surface region.

According to the above arrangement, the surface area of the touch panel corresponding to the specific area on the display surface displaying the image information is the surface area located on the line of sight of the touch panel operator who views the image information. The angle of the display surface with respect to the line of sight was adjusted. Therefore, even when the position of the line of sight of the touch panel operator with respect to the display surface is not a standard position, it is possible to input information desired by the touch panel operator.

In a preferred embodiment according to the second aspect of the present invention, the angle adjusting means performs the adjustment based on the gaze position of the touch panel operator estimated from the detection result of the head position of the touch panel operator. The angle adjusting means is configured to calculate the rotation angle of the display unit so that the estimated angle of the surface of the touch panel with respect to the line of sight of the touch panel operator becomes a predetermined angle, and the display unit based on the calculated rotation angle. And a rotation drive unit for rotating. The above-mentioned predetermined angle is set to 90 degrees. Further, the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed using at least two or more optical sensors or ultrasonic sensors.

In another modification according to the above-described embodiment, the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed using a single imaging device having a solid-state image sensor, and the line of sight of the touch panel operator is detected. The position estimation is based on the eyeball position of the touch panel operator obtained by performing predetermined processing on the image information from the imaging device, and the distance between the imaging device and the head position obtained from the autofocus function of the imaging device. It is done based on.

In still another modification according to the above-described embodiment, the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed by using two imaging devices including the solid-state imaging device, and the touch panel operator's head position is detected. The gaze position is estimated based on the eyeball position of the touch panel operator for each piece of image information obtained by performing a predetermined process on each piece of image information output from each image pickup device, and the distance between the image pickup devices. This is performed after the position of the eyeball is specified by a surveying method.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of a terminal device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The above device is a terminal device main body (device main body) 1
And an LCD display unit 3 occupying the front of the apparatus body 1 and a plurality of sensors 5 and 7.

The LCD display unit 3 has a display surface 9 and a display surface 9.
And a touch panel 11 that covers the entire area.
The display surface 9 is driven by, for example, application of a predetermined voltage, and is a dot matrix that displays various image information (indicated by reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1) provided from a signal processing unit inside the apparatus main body 1. LCD is used. The touch panel 11 is provided with a sensitive field having a function of detecting, for example, a contact object over the entire surface area corresponding to the display surface 9 and outputting a predetermined electric signal to the signal processing unit. A switch is used.

The sensors 5 and 7 both detect the position of the head of the touch panel operator 13 facing the front of the terminal device 1 and output predetermined detection signals to the signal processing unit. In the present embodiment, the sensor 5 is the LCD display unit 3
The sensor 7 is arranged directly above the position where the detection area is set in the horizontal direction, and the sensor 7 is arranged just above the position where the touch panel operator 13 stands when operating the touch panel and with the detection area set vertically (downward). Is done. As the sensors 5 and 7, for example, an optical sensor such as an infrared sensor or an ultrasonic sensor is used.

The signal processing section described above is built in the apparatus main body 1.

The signal processing unit estimates the line-of-sight position 15 of the touch panel operator 13 from the head position detection signals of the touch panel operator 13 output from the sensors 5 and 7. Then, based on the estimation result, the surface area of the touch panel 11 corresponding to the area on the display surface 9 displaying the image information 10 is positioned on the line of sight 15 of the touch panel operator 13 who views the image information 10. The correspondence between the region and the surface region is adjusted so as to be the surface region.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the above-described signal processing unit.

As shown in FIG. 2, the signal processing section includes a line-of-sight position estimating section 17, an association correcting section 19, an input information processing / image information selection output section (processing / output section) 21, and a coordinate value. A data storage unit 23, an input information storage unit 25, and an image information storage unit 27 are provided.

The line-of-sight position estimating unit 17 performs predetermined arithmetic processing on position data and height position data on the plane of the head of the touch panel operator 13 based on the detection signals output from the sensors 5 and 7, respectively. Ask for each by doing. Next, a predetermined calculation process is performed from the obtained position data and data indicating the display area of the image information 10 on the display surface 9 given from the processing / output unit 21, thereby obtaining the gaze position of the touch panel operator 13. 15, and outputs the estimated value (three-dimensional data indicating the estimated line-of-sight position 15) to the association correction unit 19.

The coordinate value data storage unit 23 stores two-dimensional coordinate value data indicating each position on the display surface 9 and the touch panel 11.
And two-dimensional coordinate value data indicating each position on the surface area of
The fixed data is stored in a table format in advance, and the fixed data is output in response to a read request from the association correction unit 19. In the present embodiment, the two-dimensional coordinate value data is associated with two-dimensional coordinate value data indicating an arbitrary position on the surface of the touch panel 11 and a perpendicular drawn from the arbitrary position toward the display surface 9. The two-dimensional coordinate value data indicating the position on the display surface 9 that intersects with the perpendicular is set in advance so as to correspond. When associating the two-dimensional coordinate value data with each other, the touch panel operator having a standard height can use the touch panel 11 in a standard posture.
It is assumed that the gaze position of the touch panel operator when operating is also considered.

When the estimated value of the line-of-sight position 15 is given from the line-of-sight position estimating unit 17, the association correcting unit 19 reads the fixed data from the coordinate value data storage unit 23. And
Based on the estimated value, the correspondence between the two-dimensional coordinate value data is set such that the surface area of the touch panel 11 corresponding to the display area of the image information 10 on the display surface 9 becomes the surface area located on the line-of-sight position 15. Correct the attachment. That is, the association is changed from a specific surface area of the touch panel 11 previously associated with the display area of the image information 10 to another surface area of the touch panel 11 corresponding to the display area on the line-of-sight position 15. become. The result of this correction is notified to the processing / output unit 21.

The input information storage unit 25 includes the processing / output unit 21
Is stored in an erasable state as input information, and corresponding input information is output to the processing / output unit 21 in response to a read request from the processing / output unit 21.

The image information storage unit 27 stores a plurality of image information (icons) displayed on the display surface 9 in advance.
The image information corresponding to the read request from the processing / output unit 21 is output to the processing / output unit 21.

The processing / output unit 21 is provided with an association correcting unit 19
Based on the notification from, the CPU 11 identifies which image information on the display surface 9 the electric signal from the touch panel 11 corresponds to. Then, as a result of the identification, when it is recognized that the signal corresponds to the specific image information (the image information 10 in the present embodiment), the meaning of the electric signal is interpreted based on the image information, and the result of the interpretation is obtained. Is stored in the input information storage unit 25 as input information. For example, assuming that the image information 10 is a soft key related to the payout of the ordinary deposit, the operation information of the payout key of the ordinary deposit is stored in the input information storage unit 25 as the input information. processing/
The output unit 21 also selects image information to be displayed from a plurality of pieces of image information stored in the image information storage unit 27 and outputs the image information to the display surface 9 as needed.

According to the above configuration, the line-of-sight position estimating unit 17 estimates the line-of-sight position of the touch panel operator based on the detection signals from the sensors 5 and 7, and the association correcting unit 19 determines the display surface based on the estimation result. The two-dimensional coordinate value data indicating each position on the touch panel 9 and the two-dimensional coordinate value data indicating each position on the surface area of the touch panel 11 are corrected. Therefore, even when the gaze position of the touch panel operator is different from the standard gaze position, the electric signal generated in the surface area corresponding to the display area of the image information different from that desired by the touch panel operator Is less likely to be input to the terminal.

In this embodiment, the association correction unit 1
9 corrects the association between the two-dimensional coordinate value data on the display surface 9 and the two-dimensional coordinate value data on the touch panel 11 by changing the specific surface area on the touch panel 11 to another surface area. did. However, by changing the display area of the image information 10 on the display surface 9 to another display region, the correspondence between the two-dimensional coordinate value data on the display surface 9 and the two-dimensional coordinate value data on the touch panel 11 is changed. May be corrected.

Further, in the present embodiment, it has been described that all the units constituting the signal processing unit are built in the apparatus main body 1. However, the units (association correction unit 19 to image information storage unit 27) except for the line-of-sight position estimation unit 17 are provided in a host computer (not shown) that centrally manages a plurality of terminal devices, and the association correction unit 19 or processing / Output unit 21
The same effect as described above can be achieved even if information is exchanged between the camera and the gaze position estimating unit 17 online.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the apparatus main body 31 is positioned such that its display surface 9 (the surface of the touch panel 11) faces the front.
That is, the main feature is that the touch panel 13 is rotatably supported by the rotation support mechanism 29 and the actuator 35 in both the forward and reverse directions as shown in FIG. And Other configurations of the respective units are the same as the configurations of the respective units of the terminal device illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a signal processing unit incorporated in the terminal device of FIG.

In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned signal processing unit
Gaze position estimating unit 1 in place of the association correcting unit 19 shown in FIG.
The main feature is that a rotation angle calculation unit 33 for obtaining the rotation drive amount of the actuator 35 is provided based on the estimation result from FIG. Since there is no association correction unit 19, the electric signal from the touch panel 11 is processed by the processing / output unit 2
1 is read out by the processing / output unit 21. The above-mentioned fixed data, which is directly supplied to the unit 1 and stored in the coordinate value data storage unit 23, is read out. Other configurations of each unit are the same as those of the signal processing unit shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, the rotation angle calculation unit 33 is based on the line-of-sight position 15 of the touch panel operator 13 estimated by the line-of-sight position estimation unit 17, and ) Is calculated to be 90 degrees, the rotation angle of the apparatus main body 31 is calculated,
The rotational drive amount of the actuator 35 is controlled based on the calculation result. Thereby, the surface area of the touch panel 11 previously associated with the specific area displaying the image information 10 on the display surface 9 is positioned on the line of sight 15 of the touch panel operator 13 viewing the image information 10. Surface area.

According to the above configuration, the rotation angle calculation section 33 estimates the touch panel operator 13
The attitude of the apparatus main body 31 is controlled through the actuator 35 so that the surface area of the touch panel 11 is always 90 degrees with respect to the line-of-sight position 15. Therefore, even when the gaze position of the touch panel operator is different from the standard gaze position, the electric signal generated in the surface area corresponding to the display area of the image information different from that desired by the touch panel operator Is less likely to be input to the terminal.

In the present embodiment, the description has been made assuming that all the components constituting the signal processing unit are incorporated in the apparatus main body 31. However, as in the above-described embodiment, the units (the processing / output unit 21 to the image information storage unit 27) except the line-of-sight position estimation unit 17 and the rotation angle calculation unit 33 are provided on the host computer side, and the processing / output unit The same effect as described above can be achieved even when information is exchanged between the apparatus 21 and the gaze position estimating unit 17 online.

The contents described above relate to each embodiment of the present invention, and do not mean that the present invention is limited to only the contents described above. For example, in the above embodiments, optical sensors such as infrared sensors or ultrasonic sensors are used as the sensors 5 and 7 for detecting the position of the head of the touch panel operator 13, but solid-state imaging is used instead. This may be performed by using one imaging device (video camera) including a device (CCD). In this case, the estimation of the line-of-sight position of the touch panel operator 13 is performed based on the eyeball position of the touch panel operator 13 obtained by performing predetermined processing on the image information from the video camera, and the video camera obtained from the automatic focusing function of the video camera. This is performed based on the distance from the head position of the touch panel operator 13.

The head position of the touch panel operator 13 may be detected by using two video cameras having the above configuration. In this case, triangulation is performed based on the eyeball position of the touch panel operator 13 for each piece of image information obtained by performing a predetermined process on each piece of image information output from each video camera and distance data between the video cameras. After the eyeball position is specified by the above method, a method of estimating the line of sight of the touch panel operator 13 may be adopted.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An information input device capable of inputting information desired by the touch panel operator even when the position of the line of sight of the touch panel operator with respect to the display surface is not a standard position can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a signal processing unit built in the terminal device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a signal processing unit built in the terminal device of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 31 terminal device main body (device main body) 3 LCD display unit 5, 7 sensor (optical sensor or ultrasonic sensor) 9 display surface 10 image information (icon) 11 touch panel 13 touch panel operator 15 eyes of touch panel operator 17 Gaze position estimating unit 19 Correlation correcting unit 21 Input information processing / image information selection / output unit (processing / output unit) 23 Coordinate value data storage unit 25 Input information storage unit 27 Image information storage unit 29 Rotation support mechanism 33 Rotation angle calculation unit 35 Actuator

Claims (15)

[Claims] A display unit for displaying image information; a touch panel provided at a position covering a display surface of the display unit, the touch panel having a function of detecting a contact object over the entire surface area corresponding to the display surface; The specific area and the surface area such that a surface area of the touch panel corresponding to a specific area in the display surface displaying information is a surface area positioned on a line of sight of a touch panel operator who views image information. Means for adjusting the correspondence between the information input device and the information input device. 2. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the association adjustment unit performs the adjustment based on a gaze position of the touch panel operator estimated from a detection result of a head position of the touch panel operator. An information input device, characterized in that: 3. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment is performed by changing a surface area of the touch panel positioned on a line of sight of the touch panel operator into a display area of image information on the display surface. An information input apparatus characterized in that the information is input by changing the surface area so as to correspond to the surface area. 4. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment corresponds to a display area of the image information on the display surface corresponding to a surface area of the touch panel touched by the touch panel operator. An information input device characterized in that the information input device is changed by changing the display area to be a display area. 5. The information input device according to claim 3, wherein the adjustment is stored in advance in a storage unit in association with a first data indicating each position on a display surface of the display unit. And an information input device which refers to second data indicating each position on the surface area of the touch panel. 6. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the head position of the touch panel operator is detected using at least two optical sensors or ultrasonic sensors. An information input device characterized by being input. 7. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed using a single imaging device including a solid-state imaging device. Estimation of the line-of-sight position of the touch panel operator, the eyeball position of the touch panel operator obtained by performing a predetermined process on the image information from the imaging device, and the automatic focus function of the imaging device An information input device, which is performed based on a distance between an imaging device and the head position. 8. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the head position of the touch panel operator is detected by using two imaging devices including a solid-state imaging device. Estimation of the gaze position of the touch panel operator, the eyeball position of the touch panel operator for each image information obtained by performing a predetermined process on each image information output from each of the imaging devices, Based on the distance between the imaging devices,
An information input device, which is performed after the eyeball position is specified by a triangulation method. 9. A display unit which is displaceably supported so that a display surface faces frontward, and a function which is provided at a position covering the display surface and detects a contact object over an entire surface area corresponding to the display surface. A touch panel having: a surface area of the touch panel corresponding to a specific area in the display surface displaying image information, a surface area positioned on a line of sight of a touch panel operator viewing the image information; Means for adjusting the angle of the display surface with respect to the information input device. 10. The information input device according to claim 9, wherein the angle adjustment unit performs the adjustment based on a line-of-sight position of the touch panel operator estimated from a detection result of a head position of the touch panel operator. An information input device, characterized in that: 11. The information input device according to claim 9, wherein the angle adjustment unit displays the display so that an angle of the surface of the touch panel with respect to the estimated line of sight of the touch panel operator is a predetermined angle. An information input device comprising: a calculation unit that calculates a rotation angle of a unit; and a rotation drive unit that rotates the display unit based on the calculated rotation angle. 12. The information input device according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined angle is 90 degrees. 13. The method according to claim 9, wherein
3. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the position of the head of the touch panel operator is detected using at least two optical sensors or ultrasonic sensors. 14. The method according to claim 9, wherein
The information input device according to claim, wherein the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed using a single imaging device including a solid-state imaging device, and the estimation of the line-of-sight position of the touch panel operator is performed using the imaging method. An eyeball position of the touch panel operator determined by performing a predetermined process on image information from the device, and a distance between the imaging device and the head position determined from an autofocus function of the imaging device. An information input device characterized by being performed. 15. The method according to claim 9, wherein:
The information input device according to claim, wherein the detection of the head position of the touch panel operator is performed using two imaging devices including a solid-state imaging device, and the estimation of the line-of-sight position of the touch panel operator is performed by each of the above. Based on the eyeball position of the touch panel operator for each image information obtained by performing a predetermined process on each image information output from the imaging device, based on the distance between the imaging devices,
An information input device, which is performed after the eyeball position is specified by a triangulation method.