JPWO2008139550A1 - Input interface device - Google Patents

Abstract

An input interface device having fun and fun is provided. As an input interface for an electronic device, a Matryomin 200 capable of adjusting a pitch or the like by changing the position of a hand in a space without bringing the hand into contact with a main body is used. The electronic device 400 controls a mouse operation such as a left click based on the pitch of the musical sound generated from the Matryomin 200.

Description

  The present invention relates to an input interface device.

  In recent years, with the widespread use of electronic devices such as personal computers and mobile phones, a wide variety of input interfaces such as input interfaces such as touch pens and touch panels, and voice input interfaces using microphones have been used. The user can input efficiently by using these input interfaces (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-163741 A

  By the way, recently, with the diversification of users, the way of input interfaces has also diversified. Specifically, not only efficient input is required for the input interface, but also elements such as fun and fun are required. However, all of the above-described input interfaces are designed with an emphasis on input efficiency, and there is a problem that the fun and fun of inputting are lacking.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to provide an input interface device that is fun and interesting.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an input interface device according to the present invention includes a pitch detection unit that detects a pitch of an electric musical instrument, and a storage unit that stores a table in which the pitch and an input operation content for an electronic device are associated. A means for specifying an input operation content for the electronic device based on the detected pitch and the table, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the electronic device according to the specified input operation content. Features.

  According to such a configuration, the input operation for the electronic device uses the electric musical instrument as an interface and controls the input operation based on the pitch of the musical sound generated from the electric musical instrument. The device can be operated.

  Here, in the above configuration, the pitch detection unit detects a change in the surrounding capacitance, and detects the pitch of the electric musical instrument that generates a musical tone having a different pitch according to the change in the capacitance. This embodiment is preferable.

  Moreover, in the said structure, the aspect which further comprises the display means which displays the said table is preferable, Furthermore, the said display means has a preferable aspect which displays the detected pitch with the said table.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an input interface device that is fun and interesting.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an input control system according to the present embodiment. The input control system 100 includes a matryomin 200, an A / D converter 300, and an electronic device 400.
This embodiment is characterized in that Matryomin (registered trademark) is used as an input interface for electronic equipment. Here, Matryomin is a small electric musical instrument equipped with a function of theremin, which is a kind of electric musical instrument. Theremin is a musical instrument that adjusts the pitch (pitch) and volume (volume) by changing the position of the hand in the space without touching the body, and an antenna for changing the pitch and volume, It has a transmitter connected to the antenna. These theremin and matryomin are electric musical instruments that detect changes in the surrounding capacitance and generate musical tones having different pitches in accordance with the change in the capacitance.

  The matryomin 200 includes an amplifier and a speaker (not shown), generates a musical sound corresponding to the operation, and outputs an analog audio signal corresponding to the musical sound to the A / D converter 300. As shown in FIG. 2, the performer places the Matryomin 200 on one hand h1 and moves the other hand h2 closer to or away from the head 201 of the Matryomin 200 to change the pitch and volume and perform.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the back surface of the matryomin 200.
On the rear surface of the matrimyon 200, a power / volume adjustment knob 210, a first pitch adjustment knob (for fine adjustment) 220, a second pitch adjustment knob 230, and a line-out terminal 240 are provided. In order to perform using the Matryomin 200 according to the present embodiment, first, it is necessary to adjust the pitch correctly (tuning). Therefore, the setting method will be described below.
First, the performer sits and crosses his legs and puts the hand holding Matryomin 200 on the knee and stabilizes it. Next, the performer fully turns the first pitch adjustment knob 220 clockwise, and then turns on the power / volume adjustment knob 210 so that sound can be generated. The performer operates the second pitch adjustment knob 230 to search for a zero point (a point at which the sound is lowered and no sound is produced with the knob held). Further, the performer gradually puts away the hand after placing his dominant hand on the occipital region 201 (see FIG. 2) of the matryomin 200 in which the antenna is built. When such an operation is performed, a zero point appears at a position of about 10 cm from the occipital region 201. The performer adjusts the first pitch adjustment knob 220 by turning it counterclockwise so that the zero point appears at a position about 40 cm from the back of the head 201. The performer tunes in this way.

Returning to FIG. 1, the A / D converter 300 converts an analog audio signal output from the line-out terminal 240 of the matryomin 200 into a digital audio signal.
The electronic device 400 is, for example, a known personal computer or the like, and includes a controller 510, a communication unit 520, and a display device 530 as illustrated in FIG.

The controller 510 includes a CPU 511, a ROM 512, a RAM 513, and the like, and centrally controls each unit of the electronic device 400 by executing various control programs stored in the ROM 512 and the like.
In addition, the controller 510 analyzes the digital audio signal output from the A / D converter 300 to detect a numerical value (pitch) proportional to the pitch, and based on the detected pitch, performs an input operation (this book) to the electronic device 400. In the embodiment, mouse operation is assumed; details are described later.

  The communication unit 520 includes various communication interfaces, and receives a digital audio signal output from the matryomin 200 via the A / D converter 300.

  The display device (display unit) 530 includes a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays an input operation to the electronic device 400 as a visible image under the control of the controller 510 (see FIG. 7 and the like). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the display device 530 is incorporated in the electronic device 400, but the display device 530 and the electronic device 400 may be configured separately.

<Functional Configuration of Controller 510>
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of the controller 510.
As shown in FIG. 6, the pitch detection means 610 analyzes the digital audio signal W1 output from the A / D converter 300 and detects the pitch m2. In this embodiment, the volume m1 is detected in addition to the pitch m2, but it is needless to say that only the pitch may be detected.
The input operation specifying means (specifying means) 620 searches the pitch / input operation conversion table stored in the conversion table memory (storage means) M using the pitch detected by the pitch detecting means 610 as a search key, and the electronic device An input operation to 400 (input operation content) is specified. Then, the input operation specifying unit 620 notifies the display control unit 630 of the specified input operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a pitch / input operation conversion table TA stored in the conversion table memory M.
The pitch / input operation conversion table TA is a table used when a mouse operation is performed, and “left click”, “left move”,... “End”, etc. are assigned to each set pitch. ing. The assignment of these input operations will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the pitches “8” to “40” are divided into four groups, and the up / down / left / right movement operations of the mouse are assigned to each group. Also, a left click operation is assigned to silence ("0" pitch), while a system end operation is assigned to treble ("150" or higher pitch). In the present embodiment, the sound in the pitch range “8” to “40”, which is a sound that can reliably generate the output pitch and can be heard clearly, has been described as an example. It is applicable to.

The display control means (control means) 630 displays an input support image P1 as shown in FIG. 8 on the display device 530 based on the input operation notified from the code specifying means 620.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an input support image P1 displayed on the display device 530 when the mouse is operated.
The input support image P1 includes a pitch display image p1 representing the currently detected pitch, an input operation display image p2 representing the input operation performed by the detected pitch, a volume display image p3 representing the volume, and a conversion table. It includes a candidate display image p4 that displays input operation candidates indicated by TA.

  By displaying such an input support image P1 on the display device 530, the performer can perform a desired mouse operation without knowing the contents of the conversion table TA (details will be described later). Details of the input operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the input operation.
When the matryomin 200, the A / D converter 300, and the electronic device 400 are connected and the power of each device is turned on, the display control means 630 of the electronic device 400 displays the input support image P1 as shown in FIG. The input image T is displayed at the center of the display device 530 (step S101). Note that the pointer “a” to be operated by the mouse is displayed at the upper left of the input image T.

  The performer refers to the input support image P1 displayed on the display device 530, and determines the input operation content (here, the mouse operation content). For example, when the pointer a is “moved to the right”, the performer changes the pitch of the musical sound generated from the Matryomin 200 to the pitch “32” to “40” corresponding to the “move right”. Perform.

  When such a performance is performed, an analog audio signal corresponding to the musical sound is output from the matryomin 200 to the A / D converter 300. The A / D converter 300 converts the analog audio signal output from the Matryomin 200 into a digital audio signal and outputs the digital audio signal to the electronic device 400. The pitch detection means 610 of the electronic device 400 determines whether or not a digital audio signal has been supplied (step S102). The pitch detection unit 610 repeatedly executes the process of step S102 until the digital audio signal is supplied. After that, when the digital audio signal is supplied, the pitch detection unit 610 analyzes the digital audio signal to detect the pitch and volume (see FIG. 6; step S102 → step S103), and the input operation specifying unit 620. Send to.

  The input operation specifying unit 620 specifies a mouse operation (input operation content) by searching the conversion table TA using the pitch output from the pitch detecting unit 610 as a search key (step S104). Then, the input operation specifying unit 620 determines whether or not the specified mouse operation is “end” (step S105), and proceeds to step S106 when determining that the mouse operation is not “end”. For example, when the identified mouse operation is identified as “move right”, the display control unit 630 is notified of an instruction to move right. Upon receiving this notification, the display control means 630 displays the input image T in which the pointer a is moved from the upper left to the middle upper as shown in FIG. When the input image T corresponding to the operation is displayed on the display device 530, the process returns to step S102 and the above-described series of processing is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S105 that the specified mouse operation is “end”, the above-described series of processing ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the input operation to the electronic device uses Matryomin as an interface and controls the input operation based on the pitch of the musical sound generated from the Matryomin. The electronic device can be operated happily while ringing.
Further, in this embodiment, since the input support image is displayed on the display device, the performer can perform a desired mouse operation even if he / she does not remember the contents of the conversion table representing conversion from pitch to input operation. It becomes possible.

B. Modification (1) In the above-described embodiment, the Matryomin 200 has been described as an example of an input interface for an electronic device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the pitch can be changed and the pitch is changed according to the pitch. The present invention is also applicable to electric musical instruments (such as theremin, electric bass, and electronic piano) that can output audio signals. Further, it can be applied not only to an electric musical instrument but also to an acoustic musical instrument (a classical guitar, an organ, etc.) with a piezoelectric element or a microphone attached thereto. Specifically, pitch variation may be detected by a piezoelectric element or a microphone, and an audio signal corresponding to the pitch may be output.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the input operation content is specified according to the pitch. However, the input content may be specified according to the volume. Of course, the input operation content may be specified using both the pitch and volume parameters.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, a personal computer is exemplified as an example of the electronic device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to any electronic device that allows an input operation. Moreover, although mouse operation was illustrated as an example of input operation to an electronic device, it is applicable to all input operations, such as pressing operation of a specific switch and character input operation, for example.

(4) In the present embodiment described above, the operation up to the mouse operation has been described. However, whether or not the mouse operation has actually been performed correctly may be evaluated using evaluation application software. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, each time a left click operation (in the case of pitch “0”) is performed in a state where the pointer a is displayed on the input image T, one chick is placed at the clicked place. Evaluation application software that displays an image (hereinafter referred to as a chick image) O1 is used.

  When the application software for evaluation is activated, a pointer a is displayed on the input image T, and circles C1 to C4 are displayed at positions where the chick image is to be displayed (see FIG. 13). The performer moves the pointer a by operating the Matryomin 200 while referring to the input support image P1 described above (see FIG. 14). When the pointer a moves to a desired position, the performer left-clicks by operating the Matryomin 200 (see FIG. 15). By performing the click operation, the chick image O1 is displayed at the corresponding location (see FIG. 16). Further, the performer operates Matryomin 200 to move the pointer a or left-click to display all the chick images on the circles C1 to C4 shown in FIG. 12 (see FIG. 17). By using such evaluation application software, a more interesting mouse operation becomes possible.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the input control system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the performance operation | movement of Matryomin which concerns on the embodiment. It is the elements on larger scale of the back of Matryomin concerning the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic device which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the controller which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement of the pitch detection which concerns on the same embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the pitch and input operation conversion table concerning the embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the input support image concerning the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows input operation which concerns on the embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the display screen concerning the embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the display screen concerning the embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the application software for evaluation which concerns on a modification. It is a figure for demonstrating the application software for evaluation which concerns on a modification. It is a figure for demonstrating the application software for evaluation which concerns on a modification. It is a figure for demonstrating the application software for evaluation which concerns on a modification. It is a figure for demonstrating the application software for evaluation which concerns on a modification. It is a figure for demonstrating the application software for evaluation which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Input control system, 200 ... Matryomin, 300 ... A / D converter, 400 ... Electronic device, 510 ... Controller, 520 ... Communication part, 530 ... Display apparatus, 610 ... Pitch detection means, 620 ... input operation specifying means, 630 ... display control means, TA ... pitch / input operation conversion table.

Claims (4)

Pitch detecting means for detecting the pitch of the electric instrument;
Storage means for storing a table in which the pitch and the input operation content for the electronic device are associated with each other;
A specifying means for specifying the input operation content for the electronic device based on the detected pitch and the table;
An input interface device comprising: control means for controlling the operation of the electronic device according to the specified input operation content.   The pitch detection means detects a change in surrounding capacitance, and detects the pitch of an electric musical instrument that generates musical tones having different pitches according to the change in capacitance. The input interface device described.   The input interface device according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the table.   The input interface device according to claim 3, wherein the display unit displays a pitch detected together with the table.

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