Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing program and storage medium containing information processing program

• US 20050081164A1
• Filed: 08/26/2004
• Published: 04/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kohno, Tetsuya, Kondo, Kazuhiro, Tsuda, Takamoto, Morimoto, Yukako, Terado, Ikuo, Hama, Tatsuya, Yonezawa, Satomi, Miura, Katsunori
• Granted Patent: US 7,418,671 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/830
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/233 including a pointing device, e.g. roller key, track ball, rocker switch or joystick constructional details of pointing devices per se G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons

Abstract

There is provided a novel menu selection method in a mobile phone. Also provided is a cursor displaying method with which a user can intuitively recognize a moving direction and moving speed. In addition, a novel scrollbar with which the user can recognize, in a case of displaying menus beyond a display screen, a range currently displayed on a display screen among all the menus and a current cursor position within the menus displayed on the current display screen.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

storage means containing a plurality of menus;

operation means for performing an operation of scrolling said plurality of menus;

display means for displaying, on a display unit, said plurality of menus stored in said storage means;

scroll state determination means of determining, depending on the scrolling operation performed with said operation means, a scroll speed of said menus and a display angle when a display on said display unit is performed; and

display control means of controlling said display means so as to perform a scrolling display of the plurality of displayed menus on said display unit in a condition where the scroll speed and the display angle determined with said scroll state determination means are added, in a case of detecting the scrolling operation performed with said operation means, and to perform a stop of the scrolling display of said menus scrolled with said display angle added, and also a display of the menus on said display unit with the menus placed right in front, in a case of detecting an operation of stopping the above scrolling operation.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said storage means stores therein at least a part of said plurality of menus in a classified state into a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy,

said display means displays a menu classified into said first hierarchy and a menu classified into said second hierarchy at the same time, and

said display control means controls said display means, in a case of detecting the scrolling operation of said display means, to follow a scrolling of the menu of one hierarchy which is a target of said scrolling operation so as to perform scrolling display of the menu of the other hierarchy.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

said display control means controls said display means, in a case of detecting the stop of said scrolling operation by said operation means, to stop scrolling of the menu of one hierarchy which is a target of said scrolling operation and to follow the stop of the menu so as to stop scrolling of the menu of the other hierarchy.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said operation means includes a rotating operator to be rotatably operated for performing a scrolling operation of said menus,

said display means displays menus corresponding, in a case of arranging said menus stored in said storage means in a substantial ring, at least a part of the substantial ring on said display unit, and

said display control means controls said display means, in a case of detecting a rotating operation of said rotating operator, to perform scrolling display of the menus displayed on said display unit along the arrangement of said substantial ring in a direction in association with the rotating operation of said rotating operator.

5. An information processing apparatus comprising:

storage means containing a plurality of menus;

operation means for performing an operation of scrolling said plurality of menus;

display means for displaying, on a display unit, said plurality of menus stored in said storage means;

scroll speed determination means of determining, depending on the scrolling operation performed with said operation means, a scroll speed of said menus; and

display control means of controlling said display means, in a case where the scrolling operation is performed by said operation means, to perform a scrolling display of said plurality of menus displayed on said display unit at a scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means and to display a visual effect in which a display volume and a display size are varied depending on the scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

scroll direction detection means for detecting a scroll direction of said menus depending on the scrolling operation by said operation means, wherein;

said display control means controls said display means to position the visual effect in which the display volume and the display size are varied depending on the scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means on a display position of the display unit, which corresponds the scroll direction detected by said scroll direction detection means.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:

said display control means controls said display means, in a case where the scrolling operation of said menus by said operation means is stopped, in a manner that the visual effect displayed on said display means gradually decreases in its volume and size with time.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

effect operation means for setting on/off of displaying said visual effect, wherein;

said display control means controls said display means, in a case where displaying of the visual effect is set on by said effect operation means, to display said visual effect.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:

said display control means controls said display means to display a cursor for selecting said menus on said display unit at a transparency corresponding to the scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means.

10. An information processing apparatus comprising:

storage means which stores a plurality of menus classified into a predetermined group, respectively;

menu display means which displays menus in a range of said plurality of menus stored in said storage means and a selection cursor for selecting a desired menu from said displayed menus in the range on a display unit;

scrolling display means which displays a scrolling frame, a first scrolling cursor and a second scrolling cursor on said display unit, said scrolling frame having an area corresponding to the number of all menus stored in said storage means, said first scrolling cursor being displayed movably in the area of the scrolling frame and indicating a group in which the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said all menus is classified, and said second scrolling cursor being displayed movably on said first scrolling cursor and indicating the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said menus in the range;

operation means for performing a scrolling operation of the menus displayed on said display unit;

display control means which controls said menu display means to perform scrolling display of the menus displayed on said display unit in accordance with the scrolling operation of said menus by said operation means, and controls said scrolling display means to display said second scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the scrolling-displayed menus and, in a case where the group into which the menus indicated by said selection cursor are classified is changed by said scrolling operation, to display said first scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the change.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said scrolling display means displays said scrolling frame in a shape of a bar or a ring on said display unit.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said first scrolling cursor has an area corresponding to the number of menus classified into the group into which the menu indicated by said selection cursor is classified.

13. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are stored, operation means for performing a scrolling operation of said plurality of menus and a display unit which displays said plurality of menus, said method comprising:

a displaying step of displaying said plurality of menus on said display unit;

a scrolling detecting step of detecting the scrolling operation of said operation means;

a scroll state determining step of determining a scroll speed of said menus and a display angle at the time when said menus are displayed on said display unit in accordance with the scrolling operation of said operation means; and

a display controlling step of controlling to perform a scrolling display of the plurality of displayed menus on said display unit in a condition where the scroll speed and the display angle determined with said scroll state determination means are added, in a case of detecting the scrolling operation performed with said operation means, and to perform a stop of the scrolling display of said menus scrolled with said display angle added, and also a display of the menus on said display unit with the menus placed right in front, in a case of detecting an operation of stopping the above scrolling operation.

14. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are stored, operation means for performing a scrolling operation of said plurality of menus and a display unit which displays said plurality of menus stored in said storage means, said method comprising:

a displaying step of displaying said plurality of menus on said display unit;

a scroll speed determining step of determining a scroll speed of said menus in accordance with the scrolling operation of said operation means; and

a display controlling step of controlling said display unit, in a case where the scrolling operation is performed by said operation means, to perform a scrolling display of said plurality of menus displayed on said display unit at a scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means and to display a visual effect in which a display volume and a display size are varied depending on the scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means.

15. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are classified into a predetermined group, respectively, to be stored, a display unit, and operation means for performing a scrolling operation of the menus displayed on said display unit, said method comprising:

a menu displaying step of displaying menus in a range of said plurality of menus stored in said storage means and a selection cursor for selecting a desired menu from said displayed menus in the range on a display unit;

a scrolling displaying step of displaying a scrolling frame, a first scrolling cursor and a second scrolling cursor on said display unit, said scrolling frame having an area corresponding to the number of all menus stored in said storage means, said first scrolling cursor being displayed movably in the area of the scrolling frame and indicating a group in which the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said all menus is classified, and said second scrolling cursor being displayed movably on said first scrolling cursor and indicating the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said menus in the range; and

a display controlling step of controlling to perform scrolling display of the menus displayed on said display unit in accordance with the scrolling operation of said menus by said operation means, and controlling to display said second scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the scrolling-displayed menus and, in a case where the group into which the menus indicated by said selection cursor are classified is changed by said scrolling operation, to display said first scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the change.

16. An information processing program executed in an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are stored, operation means for performing a scrolling operation of said plurality of menus and a display unit which displays said plurality of menus, said program causing the information processing apparatus execute:

a displaying step of displaying said plurality of menus on said display unit;

a scrolling detecting step of detecting the scrolling operation of said operation means;

a scroll state determining step of determining a scroll speed of said menus and a display angle at the time when said menus are displayed on said display unit in accordance with the scrolling operation of said operation means; and

a display controlling step of controlling to perform a scrolling display of the plurality of displayed menus on said display unit in a condition where the scroll speed and the display angle determined with said scroll state determination means are added, in a case of detecting the scrolling operation performed with said operation means, and to perform a stop of the scrolling display of said menus scrolled with said display angle added, and also a display of the menus on said display unit with the menus placed right in front, in a case of detecting an operation of stopping the above scrolling operation.

17. An information processing program executed in an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are stored, operation means for performing a scrolling operation of said plurality of menus and a display unit which displays said plurality of menus stored in said storage means, said program causing the information processing apparatus execute:

a displaying step of displaying said plurality of menus on said display unit;

a scroll speed determining step of determining a scroll speed of said menus in accordance with the scrolling operation of said operation means; and

a display controlling step of controlling said display unit, in a case where the scrolling operation is performed by said operation means, to perform a scrolling display of said plurality of menus displayed on said display unit at a scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means and to display a visual effect in which a display volume and a display size are varied depending on the scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means.

18. An information processing program executed in an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are classified into a predetermined group, respectively, to be stored, a display unit, and operation means for performing a scrolling operation of the menus displayed on said display unit, said program causing the information processing apparatus execute:

a menu displaying step of displaying menus in a range of said plurality of menus stored in said storage means and a selection cursor for selecting a desired menu from said displayed menus in the range on a display unit;

a scrolling displaying step of displaying a scrolling frame, a first scrolling cursor and a second scrolling cursor on said display unit, said scrolling frame having an area corresponding to the number of all menus stored in said storage means, said first scrolling cursor being displayed movably in the area of the scrolling frame and indicating a group in which the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said all menus is classified, and said second scrolling cursor being displayed movably on said first scrolling cursor and indicating the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said menus in the range; and

a display controlling step of controlling to perform scrolling display of the menus displayed on said display unit in accordance with the scrolling operation of said menus by said operation means, and controlling to display said second scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the scrolling-displayed menus and, in a case where the group into which the menus indicated by said selection cursor are classified is changed by said scrolling operation, to display said first scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the change.

19. A storage medium having stored therein an information processing program executed in an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are stored, operation means for performing a scrolling operation of said plurality of menus and a display unit which displays said plurality of menus, said program causing the information processing apparatus execute:

a displaying step of displaying said plurality of menus on said display unit;

a scrolling detecting step of detecting the scrolling operation of said operation means;

a scroll state determining step of determining a scroll speed of said menus and a display angle at the time when said menus are displayed on said display unit in accordance with the scrolling operation of said operation means; and

is a display controlling step of controlling to perform a scrolling display of the plurality of displayed menus on said display unit in a condition where the scroll speed and the display angle determined with said scroll state determination means are added, in a case of detecting the scrolling operation performed with said operation means, and to perform a stop of the scrolling display of said menus scrolled with said display angle added, and also a display of the menus on said display unit with the menus placed right in front, in a case of detecting an operation of stopping the above scrolling operation.

20. A storage medium having stored therein an information processing program executed in an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are stored, operation means for performing a scrolling operation of said plurality of menus and a display unit which displays said plurality of menus stored in said storage means, said program causing the information processing apparatus execute:

a displaying step of displaying said plurality of menus on said display unit;

a scroll speed determining step of determining a scroll speed of said menus in accordance with the scrolling operation of said operation means; and

a display controlling step of controlling said display unit, in a case where the scrolling operation is performed by said operation means, to perform a scrolling display of said plurality of menus displayed on said display unit at a scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means and to display a visual effect in which a display volume and a display size are varied depending on the scroll speed determined by said scroll speed determination means.

21. A storage medium having stored therein an information processing program executed in an information processing apparatus having storage means in which a plurality of menus are classified into a predetermined group, respectively, to be stored, a display unit, and operation means for performing a scrolling operation of the menus displayed on said display unit, said program causing the information processing apparatus execute:

a menu displaying step of displaying menus in a range of said plurality of menus stored in said storage means and a selection cursor for selecting a desired menu from said displayed menus in the range on a display unit;

a scrolling displaying step of displaying a scrolling frame, a first scrolling cursor and a second scrolling cursor on said display unit, said scrolling frame having an area corresponding to the number of all menus stored in said storage means, said first scrolling cursor being displayed movably in the area of the scrolling frame and indicating a group in which the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said all menus is classified, and said second scrolling cursor being displayed movably on said first scrolling cursor and indicating the menus indicated by said selection cursor among said menus in the range; and

a display controlling step of controlling to perform scrolling display of the menus displayed on said display unit in accordance with the scrolling operation of said menus by said operation means, and controlling to display said second scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the scrolling-displayed menus and, in a case where the group into which the menus indicated by said selection cursor are classified is changed by said scrolling operation, to display said first scrolling cursor movably in correspondence with the change.