MXPA00006577A - Information communication electronic device and information display method - Google Patents

Abstract

An information communication electronic device such as a portable game machine and a method having a display unit which displays a change in a content of information when the electronic device is moved by a user. The electronic device also has a movement detection unit and a control unit. When a movement is made in a predetermined direction by dX in the horizontal direction and dY in the vertical direction, the portable game machine causes the representative point for main image data to move in that predetermined direction and without changing the movement-system coordinates on the display unit the control unit changes its absolute coordinates by (+dX, +dY) and displays the change on the display unit. The display unit has a pointer and the device causes its representative point to move in the opposite direction, and without changingits absolute coordinates, the control unit changes its movement-system coordinates by -dX in the horizontal direction and -dY in the vertical direction and displays it on the display unit.

Description

ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR INFORMATION COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION DEPLOYMENT METHOD FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an electronic information communication device that is suitable for a small portable terminal such as a portable information communication terminal, and a method of displaying information using said electronic device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Small portable terminals, such as portable information communication terminals, small portable gaming machines, and portable telephones, have become widely used because they are very easy to carry. The small portable terminals operate independently by themselves but also have telephone functions and the function of executing programs to perform various information processing. For example, a personal computer or a home control panel of a video game machine can serve as the main machine while a small portable terminal connected to it serves as an auxiliary resource of calculation or memory or is used as a means of communication when communicating with external equipment.

Many conventional small portable terminals have a high-precision liquid crystal display as their display unit. When said small portable terminal is used as an input device, a pen or style is generally used, for example, (hereinafter referred to as a pen), and varied information can be entered by pressing the pen directly against the liquid crystal display . However, in a conventional small portable terminal, the pen is not part of the device itself, and when using it one must take the problem of removing the pen, there is also the problem that both hands are occupied, using one hand to hold the pen. device and the other to hold the pen. Also sometimes the person may lose the pen. Also, in a conventional small portable terminal, it is possible to enter the information not with a pen but by connecting, for example, a keyboard or a mouse to the terminal. However, then the person may have the problem of lack of portability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention, which was conceived considering the above problems, is to provide an electronic information communication device that is suitable for a portable terminal small such as a portable information communication terminal, and a method of displaying information that uses the electronic device. This and other objects of the present invention are achieved by an electronic information communication device comprising at least one display means that displays main information; a motion detection means detecting an address and a distance of any movement of the electronic information communication device from a first position to a second position; and a control means that changes the content of what is displayed in said deployment means according to said detected movement. In the electronic information communication device of this invention, the content of what is displayed in the deployment means is changed and displayed in accordance with said movement. The objects of the present invention are also achieved by a method of displaying information of this invention comprising the steps of at least displaying main information in a deployment medium; detecting an address and distance of any movement of the deployment means from a first position to a second position; and changing the content of those that are deployed in said deployment means according to the movement detected. In the information deployment method of the present invention configured as described above, the content of what unfolds in the deployment medium is changed and displayed according to that movement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front view of a portable gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the portable gaming machine of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the physical component layers of the portable gaming machine of Figures 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining how the portable gaming machine changes the position of a deployment pointer according to a movement of the portable gaming machine, showing the state before the movement; Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining how the portable gaming machine changes the position of the deployment pointer according to a movement of the portable gaming machine, showing the state after the movement; Figure 6 is a diagram to explain how the portable gaming machine changes and displays a region of map data according to with a movement, which shows the state before the movement according to another modality; and Figure 7 is a diagram for explaining how the portable gaming machine changes and displays a region of map data according to a movement, which shows the state after movement according to the embodiment of Figure 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION THE PREFERRED MODALITIES A portable gaming machine 1 shown in Figure 1 as an embodiment of this invention is configured, for example, as a portable information communication terminal (personal digital assistant, or PDA) that can send information to external devices and receive information from the same through a wireless communication function and can run several application programs. The portable gaming machine 1, which has the appearance shown in Fig. 1, has a deployment unit 2, which is a deployment means, and an operation unit 3, and these units are in a housing 4. The display unit 2 consists of, for example, a reflector liquid crystal panel, and displays in this reflector liquid crystal panel text information or varied image information, etc.

The operation unit 3 includes one or more operation buttons 3a to 3e and performs an event introduction, a varied selection, etc. As shown in Figure 2, the portable gaming machine 1 has a mouse ball or tracking ball (hereinafter referred to as "mouse ball") 5a. The mouse ball 5a, which is an element of a motion detector 5, which is the motion detection means shown in Figure 3, is an input unit for motion detection. As shown for example in Figure 2, the motion detector 5 is constructed in such a way that the mouse ball 5a is embedded in the housing 4 placed approximately in the middle of the rear surface of the portable gaming machine 1, with its tip region exposed outward, and multiple rollers provided within housing 4 that are not shown rotate in connection with the movement of mouse ball 5a. The motion detector 5 detects the direction and distance in which the portable gaming machine 1 moves by detecting, by means of a circuit unit that is not shown, the rotation of the rollers that are not shown due to the fact that the machine portable game 1 is placed on itself, for example, on a flat surface, and the mouse ball 5a moves while in contact with the flat surface. As shown in Figure 3, the portable gaming machine 1 includes a layer of physical components having, in addition to the deployment unit 2, operation unit 3, and motion detector 5, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 6, which is a means of control, a wireless communication unit 7, a serial communication unit 8, a non-volatile memory 9, a working memory 10 and a unit of other functions 11. The wireless communication unit 7 has functions for a wireless communication with external devices. The wireless communication unit 7 transmits information to external devices and receives information from them by, for example, IrDA (Infrared Information Association), etc. infrared rays or microwaves, etc. The serial communication unit 8 has functions to carry out serial communication with external devices. The serial communication unit 8 can, for example, be electrically connected to external devices, thus carrying out the data communication processing with said external devices. The non-volatile memory 9 is a memory unit that stores varied information. In non-volatile memory 9, for example, game programs and other application programs are stored, and various information acquired by communication with external devices. The working memory 10 is a memory unit that is used as a working region for varied information. In this working memory 10 are stored, for example, game programs and other application programs, and varied information acquired by means of communication with external devices in the same manner as non-volatile memory 9. The other functions unit 11 includes varied parts different from those described above; for example, it may include a power source, which is not shown. The CPU 6 has the function of controlling the parts described above according to, for example, several programs. It also has the function of changing the content of the image information displayed in the display unit 2 according to the detection results by means of the motion detector 5. The portable game machine 1 having the configuration described above can run independently Various application programs such as game programs. And when the portable gaming machine 1 is connected with, for example, an external device serving as the main machine, it may be constructed to function as the mouse of said external device, and may be the input means of the external device. Next, the content displayed in the deployment unit 2 will be described when the portable gaming machine 1 is placed on a flat surface and the mouse ball moves while in contact with the flat surface. Here, as shown in Figure 4, two-dimensional coordinates are used that are fixed in the plane in which a point O in the plane is taken as the origin, the horizontal axis is X, and the vertical axis is Y, and coordinates two-dimensional whose origin is the bottom left of the deployment unit 2, the horizontal axis is x, and the vertical axis is y. And that moves along with the movement of the portable gaming machine 1. In the description, the first coordinates are called the absolute coordinates, and the second ones are called the coordinates of the motion system. In the portable gaming machine 1, a pointer 2b, which is a marker to point to the information within the display unit 2, is displayed in the display unit 2 together with main image information 2a, such as an image or text, which is the main information. Here, in the subsequent description, the approximate middle section of main image information 2a is taken as the representative point of the main image information 2a, and the tip of the pointer 2b is taken as its representative point. That is, the representative point of main image information 2a and pointer 2b in its initial position is taken as the point P of absolute coordinates (A, B) (coordinates of motion system [a, b]). Also, when expressing coordinates, a distinction is made between absolute coordinates (X, Y) and movement system coordinates [x, y]. When the portable gaming machine 1 moves from its initial position while in contact with the flat surface, the motion detector 5 detects the direction and distance of its movement, and accordingly, the pointer 2b moves inside the deployment unit 2 using CPU 6. Here, in the same diagram, the portable gaming machine 1 it moves in the direction indicated by the arrow s, which is dX in the horizontal direction and dY in the vertical direction. In the portable gaming machine 1, shown in FIG. 5, with respect to what is displayed in the display unit 2, there is no change, before and after the movement, for the main image information 2a, but the position of the pointer 2b does change. Expressing this in terms of X and Y coordinates, in the portable gaming machine 1, the representative point of the main image information 2a displayed in the display unit 2 is moved in the direction of the arrow s, and its absolute coordinates are expressed by the coordinates (A + dX, B + dY) or point R, which moves just (+ dX, + dY) from the point P of (A, B). The coordinates of the movement system remain unchanged before and after the movement, remaining in [a, b]. Meanwhile, the absolute coordinates of the representative point of the pointer 2b remain unchanged before and after the movement, remaining in (A, B), but the coordinates of the movement system are expressed by [a-dX, b-dY]. That is, the representative point of the pointer 2b moves in the direction of the arrow t, and its movement system coordinates are expressed by the values in which there is a movement of -dX in the horizontal direction and -dY in the direction vertical. That is, in the portable gaming machine 1, CPU 6 moves and displays the pointer 2b inside the deployment unit 2, the same movement was moved distance and in the exactly opposite direction of the direction of movement detected by the motion detector 5. Therefore, as the portable gaming machine 1 moves, the user sees the main image information 2a move while the position of the pointer 2b remains always fixed and without change. Accordingly, in the portable gaming machine 1, the content displayed in the display unit 2 can be pointed by the pointer 2b by moving the user to the portable gaming machine 1. For example, when the function keys, etc. are used. they unfold, moving the device itself and causing the pointer 2b to move to the deployed position, it is possible to place the pointer 2b to the desired position and make a selection by input with the operating unit 3. Therefore, in the machine of portable game 1 it is possible to point to main image information 2a displayed in the deployment unit 2 by the same operating method as with a mouse, operating it with one hand without losing portability, and without requiring a pen or other similar input device . Next, other embodiments of the above portable gaming machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. A portable gaming machine 20 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 as the second embodiment has its basic structure similar to that of the gaming machine. portable game 1 shown in figures 1 to 3, and that movement is performed within the display unit by applying the technique in which the movement is performed to the main image information distance but in exactly opposite direction to the direction of movement detected by the motion detector. For the configuration which is the same as that of the portable gaming machine 1 shown in Figures 1 to 3 above, the same reference numerals are used, and a detailed description is omitted. The portable gaming machine 20 reads the image information stored in a memory such as a non-volatile memory 9, displays it in the display unit 2, and changes the displayed content by means of CPU 6 according to the results detected by the detector. movement 5. Now the case in which map data M is displayed as the main image information in the display unit 2 will be described, as shown in figure 6. The map data M is pre-stored in a memory of the portable gaming machine 20, such as a non-volatile memory 9. Here the map data M consists of a series of multiple regions, each of an area that can be displayed at the same time in the deployment unit 2, and correspond to its region connected to the wide area. As shown in the diagram, map data M is explained as having virtual spatial range. Also, a grid of this map data M shows the standard for the size that can be displayed at the same time in the display unit 2. In the following description, as in the first embodiment mentioned above, two-dimensional fixed coordinates are used in the flat in the where a point O in the plane is taken as the origin, the horizontal axis is X, and the vertical axis is Y, and two-dimensional coordinates whose origin is the lower left of the deployment unit 2, the horizontal axis is x, and the vertical axis is y, and that moves along with the movement of the portable gaming machine 20. In the description, the first coordinates are called the absolute coordinates, and the second are called the coordinates of the motion system. Also, as explained in the first modality, a distinction is made between the absolute coordinates (X, Y) and the coordinates of the motion system [x, y]. In the portable gaming machine 20, suppose as the starting position that a region including point P (absolute coordinates (A, B), movement system coordinates [a, b] in the MO region within the map data M is displayed in the middle of the deployment unit 2. Assume also that in the deployment unit 2, a fixed pointer 2c is deployed, and its tip always points to the center of the deployment unit 2. That is, in the initial position, pointer 2c is displayed with its point coinciding with point P. Here the case is described in which the user, to find a desired Q point (absolute coordinates (A + dX, B + dY), movement system coordinates [a + dX, b + dY] within the M1 region, moves the portable gaming machine 20 in the direction of the arrow u, by dX in the horizontal direction and dY in the vertical direction in the portable gaming machine 20, as shown in figure 7, when the region displayed in the deployment unit 2 is moved of the proximity of MO to the vicinity of M1 per CPU 6 according to the results detected by the motion detector 5, and the point Q is placed in the middle of the deployment unit 2, the pointer 2c is displayed by CPU 6, in the display unit 2 without changing its position within the display unit 2. That is, in the portable game machine 20, the pointer 2c, which is displayed in the display unit 2 by CPU 6, moves in the direction of the arrow ua as the portable gaming machine 20 moves, and its absolute coordinates are expressed by coordinates (A + dX, B + dY), in which it moves from (A, B) by (+ dX, + dY ). Also, because the pointer 2c is displayed fixed at the center of the display unit 2, the movement system coordinates of its representative point remain unchanged in [a, b] before and after the movement. Meanwhile, with respect to map data M, when they move from point P of absolute coordinates (A, B) to point Q of (A + dX, B + dY), their motion system coordinates are expressed as [a -dX, b-dY] for the point P y [a, b] for the point Q. That is, the map data M moves in the direction of the arrow v, and its coordinates of the movement system are expressed by the values moved by -dX in the horizontal direction and by -dY in the vertical direction. That is, the portable gaming machine 20, by means of the CPU 6, moves, and displays within the display unit 2, the map data M in the direction and by the moved distance that are expressed by the arrow v, which is exactly in the opposite direction of the movement expressed by the arrow u detected by the motion detector 5. Therefore, in the portable gaming machine 20, by making the user movements directly, the person can use the portable gaming machine 20 in the sense that if the pointer 2c is moving through a really extended map, the person can deploy the desired region in the deployment unit 2. Likewise, in the portable gaming machine 20, there is no need for a pen or any other input device, and the person can operate it with one hand using the same operating method as a mouse, without loss of portability. In the first and second modalities described above, by the functions of CPU 6, the calculation of the amount of movement relative to the absolute coordinate system and the motion coordinate system differs and the image information to be displayed in the unit Deployment 2 differs. It is possible, as desired, to arbitrarily adjust, by means of the operation unit 3, to adopt either the first mode or the second mode. Also, the person can, through the operation unit 3, switch between the first mode and the second mode as desired. As explained above, in a portable gaming machine shown as an embodiment of this invention, there is no need for an input device such as a pen, and the person can point to the information displayed on the deployment medium by the same medium of operation as a mouse and can display the desired information. Therefore, in the portable gaming machine the person can perform operations with one hand, without losing portability. Also, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the compositions described above, and the explanation given was for a composition in which a mouse ball is used as a means of detecting movement, but the person can also detect movement by a method using, for example, light, radio waves, or magnetism, as long as the person can detect the direction and distance of the movement. In addition, the object to be moved within the deployment medium is not limited pointers or map data but can, needless to say, include several objects as desired. As described in detail above, the electronic information communication device of the present invention comprises at least one deployment means that displays the main information, a motion detection means that detects the direction and distance when a movement of the electronic device is made from a first position to a second position, and a control means that changes the content of what is deployed in the deployment medium in accordance with said movement. In this way, in the electronic information communication device of this invention, by changing and displaying the content that is displayed in the deployment medium, the person can, with good portability and operability, give instructional information and display the desired information displayed on the deployment medium. Also, the method of displaying information of this invention comprises the steps of at least displaying main information in the deployment means, detecting the direction and distance of the movement when there is a movement of the means of deployment from a first position to a second position, and changing the content of what is deployed in the deployment medium according to the movement detected. In this way, with the method of displaying information of this invention, changing and displaying the content displayed on the deployment medium, the person can, by a simple operation, give instruction information and display the desired information displayed in the deployment medium.

Claims (6)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - An electronic information communication device comprising: a deployment means that displays main information, a means of detecting movement that detects an address and a distance of a movement of the electronic information communication device when the movement is made of a first position to a second position; and a control means that changes a content displayed in said deployment means in accordance with a detected movement.

2. The electronic information communication device according to claim 1, further characterized in that said control means moves a marking information, which is displayed to indicate said main information, in a direction opposite to the direction of movement detected by said motion detection means and for the same distance as said detection movement, and displays said tagging information moved in said deployment means.

3. The electronic information communication device according to claim 1, further characterized in that said control means moves said main information in the opposite direction and for the same distance as the direction of movement detected by said means of motion detection, and displays said main information moved in said deployment means.

4. A method of displaying information comprising the steps of: at least displaying main information in a means of deploying an electronic device, detecting an address and distance of a movement of the electronic device when the movement is made from a first position to a second position; and changing a content displayed in said deployment means according to the detected movement.

5. The information display method according to claim 4, further characterized in that said main information and a marker for indicating said main information are displayed in said deployment means; and said marker is moved in the opposite direction and for the same distance as the direction of motion detected and is displayed in said deployment means.

6. The information display method according to claim 4, further characterized in that said main information is moved in the opposite direction and for the same distance as the direction of motion detected and is displayed in said deployment means.