JPH117372A - Graphic selector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select and transfer an item to which pseudo three-dimensional display is performed on a planar display by using a device like a writing pressure sensitive tablet, etc., capable of falsely inputting three-dimensional information with respect to a computer using a GUI(graphical user interface). SOLUTION: Position information on a plane pointed by a user and the writing pressure are detected from the tablet (a processing 201). Next, inputted information obtained from the tablet is converted into the three-dimensional information (a processing 202). Next, displayed information of an item displayed on a display stored in a storage device is retrieved based on the calculated three-dimensional information and the item is selected (a processing 204).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer for performing input / output with a user using a graphical user interface (GUI), in addition to positional information on a plane, the information is added in a direction perpendicular to the plane. By using a tablet or similar device that can detect pressure,
It is used to select and move an item displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional manner on a flat display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a computer using a GUI, a pointing device such as a mouse capable of inputting two-dimensional position information is generally used to select an item displayed on a display. A list of typical pointing devices is introduced in “Design of Human Interface” (Min. Yoshida, Kyoritsu Shuppan, 1995).

[0003] As for a figure designating method in a three-dimensional space, there is Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 4-6034.

[0004]

In a computer using a GUI, it is common to display items in a pseudo three-dimensional manner on a flat display. When a pointing device such as a mouse capable of inputting two-dimensional position information is used to select an item to be displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional manner, a complicated device such as a keyboard is used to select an overlapped item. It is necessary to specify a three-dimensional position by further adding information of another input device. Alternatively, it is necessary to perform complicated processing for interpreting a user's input operation.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Some pointing devices for inputting a position on a plane, such as a pen pressure sensing type tablet, can sense a pen pressure in addition to a position on a plane. By obtaining three-dimensional spatial coordinates from the magnitude of the pen pressure obtained by this type of pointing device and positional information on a plane, an item displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional manner is selected without using an auxiliary input device. .

[0006]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the equipment required to carry out the present invention. A tablet 101 is one of pressure-sensitive pointing devices, and can detect plane coordinates and pen pressure given by a user. Reference numeral 102 denotes a CPU required to execute the processing. 103 is a memory for storing necessary information. Reference numeral 104 denotes a flat display, which displays items based on position information and shape information of display items stored in the memory.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process of selecting an item displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional manner on a display using the present invention. In the process 401, the position of the pen on the tablet (101) and the pen pressure are measured and input to the CPU (102). In process 402, the pen pressure is converted into position information in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the tablet by a calculation formula given in advance. Process 403
Then, a selectable display item is searched from the three-dimensional coordinate information obtained in the process 402 and the position and shape information of the display item stored in the memory (103).
In step 404, if a display item exists at the position obtained in step 403, the fact that the display item has been selected is displayed on the display.

FIG. 3 shows a pointing device (10).
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a correspondence between an input in 1) and a display on a display (104). Reference numeral 301 denotes a tablet, and 302 denotes a pen for giving a position on the tablet. 303 and 304 are plane coordinate information on the tablet plane.
305 is the magnitude of the pen pressure applied by the pen (302) to the tablet (301). 306 is a flat display. Items 310, 311 and 312 are pseudo three-dimensionally displayed items on the flat display. The coordinates 303 and 304 on the tablet correspond to the coordinates 307 and 308 on the display, respectively. The magnitude (305) of the pen pressure on the tablet corresponds to the position 309 in the depth direction of the pseudo three-dimensional space displayed on the display. An item displayed in the three-dimensional space is selected based on the coordinates indicated by 307, 308, and 309.

FIG. 4 is a table configuration example of item display information stored in the memory. An area 401 stores display information for one item. The position information 402 stores the position of an item in a display space to be pseudo-three-dimensionally displayed on a flat display. The shape information 403 stores information on the shape of the item. The item display information is stored in the memory 103 by the number of items. Reference numeral 405 denotes an area for storing the position of the flat surface of the tablet in the display space. Based on this information, a reference point for converting the magnitude (304) of the pen pressure into a position in the depth direction is obtained.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a processing flow when an item is moved using the present invention. Reference numeral 501 denotes processing for obtaining an input from the tablet before the start of movement. 50
2 is a processing procedure for converting the input obtained in 501 into three-dimensional coordinates. 503 is a process of searching for an item based on the three-dimensional coordinates obtained in 502 and the display information stored in the memory (103). 504 is a process for displaying on the display (104) that the item has been selected. Reference numeral 505 denotes processing for requesting an input when the user moves the pen while selecting an item on the tablet. 506 is a process for converting the input obtained in 505 into three-dimensional coordinates. Reference numeral 507 denotes processing for updating the display position information (402) stored in the memory (103) based on the coordinates obtained in 506. Process 50
8 is a process for updating the display on the display based on the information updated in the process 507.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing movement of a display item. 601 is a tablet, 602 is a tablet pen,
Reference numeral 609 denotes a display for pseudo-three-dimensionally displaying items. 603 and 604 are coordinates on the tablet at the initial position of the item. 605 is the magnitude of the pen pressure given to wash the item in the initial position. Based on the sizes of 603, 604, and 605, the sizes of the coordinates 611, 612, and 613 at the initial position (613) of the item on the display can be obtained. As the pen 602 is moved from the position given by 604 to 605 to the position given by 606 to 608, the coordinates on the display also move to the position (614) given by 615 to 617.

[0013]

According to the present invention, in a computer using a GUI, by using an input device capable of giving pseudo three-dimensional position information, pseudo three-dimensional display can be performed on a display by simple processing. Items can be selected and moved efficiently. In addition, by using a pointing device on a plane for inputting three-dimensional coordinates, the device can be made compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an item selection method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing selection of an item in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage method of item position information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an item moving method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing movement of items according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 input device 102 CPU 103 memory
104 display device

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a computer using a graphical user interface, an item displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional manner on a flat display is selected based on positional information on a flat surface and information from a pointing device capable of detecting pen pressure. apparatus. 2. In a computer using a graphical user interface, an item displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional manner on a flat display is selected based on positional information on a flat surface and information from a pointing device capable of detecting pen pressure. A device that can move a selected item in a display device. 3. In a computer using a graphical user interface, an item displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional manner on a flat display is selected based on positional information on a flat surface and information from a pointing device capable of detecting pen pressure. A device that can change the shape of the selected item in the display device.