Input data processing program and information processing apparatus

• US 20070046647A1
• Filed: 07/31/2006
• Published: 03/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Ohta, Keizo
• Granted Patent: US 8,780,052 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/2145 the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/426 involving on-screen location information, e.g. screen coordinates of an area at which the player is aiming with a light gun
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1068 being specially adapted to detect the point of contact of the player on a surface, e.g. floor mat, touch pad
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

The game apparatus executes a storage step of repeatedly acquiring input area data representing an input area 41 in accordance with a detection result from the input device, and storing the input area data in a memory. Next, the game apparatus executes: a virtual area determination step of determining a virtual area 42 so as to follow a change of the input area 41 represented by the input area data each time the input area data is stored in the memory; and a first process execution step of executing a first process, such as a process of moving a cursor, in accordance with the virtual area 42 having been determined by the virtual area determination step.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon an input data processing program which causes a computer, of an information processing apparatus including an input device for detecting for an input area on which an input to an input surface is being made, to execute:

a storage step of repeatedly acquiring input area data representing the input area in accordance with a detection result from the input device, and storing the input area data in a memory of the information processing apparatus;

a virtual area determination step of determining a virtual area so as to follow a change of the input area represented by the input area data each time the input area data is stored in the memory; and

a first process execution step of executing a first process in accordance with the virtual area having been determined by the virtual area determination step.

2. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the first process execution step calculates, as a position of the virtual area, one of a center position of the virtual area and a centroid of the virtual area, and executes the first process in accordance with the position of the virtual area.

3. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the virtual area determination step determines a position of the virtual area such that a smaller one of the input area and the virtual area is within a larger one of said areas.

4. The storage medium according to claim 3, wherein

the virtual area determination step includes:

a size determination step of determining a size of the virtual area so as to follow a size of the input area each time the input area data is stored in the memory; and

a movement step of moving, when at least a portion of the smaller one of the virtual area having the size determined by the size determination step and the input area is outside the larger one, the position of the virtual area such that the smaller one is entirely within the larger one.

5. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the size determination step determines the size of the virtual area using a difference between the size of the virtual area having been most recently determined and the size of the input area.

6. The storage medium according to claim 5, wherein

each of the input area and the virtual area is represented as a circular area, and

the size determination step determines a radius of the virtual area using a difference between the radius of the virtual area having been most recently determined and a radius of the input area.

7. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the movement step determines, when the smaller one of the virtual area and the input area has an external area which is outside the larger one, a moving distance over which the virtual area is moved, in accordance with a size of the external area.

8. The storage medium according to claim 7, wherein

each of the input area and the virtual area is represented as a circular area, and

the movement step determines the moving distance over which the virtual area is moved, by using a radius of the input area, a radius of the virtual area, and a distance between a center position of the virtual area having been most recently calculated and a center position of the input area.

9. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein

the virtual area is represented as a circular area,

the virtual area determination step stores, in the memory, virtual position data representing a position of the virtual area and virtual radius data representing a radius of the virtual area;

and

the first process execution step determines, using at least one of the virtual position data and the virtual radius data stored in the memory, a content of the first process to be executed.

10. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein

the input device outputs data representing an area size of the input area and a position of the input area, and

the storage step includes

an acquisition step of acquiring the data outputted by the input device, and

an area calculation step of calculating a circular area having, at a center thereof, the position represented by the data having been acquired and having the area size represented by the data having been acquired, and storing, as the input area data, data representing the circular area having been calculated.

11. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the storage step stops, when the detection result from the input device indicates that no input is made to the input surface, storing the input area data in the memory.

12. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein

the information processing apparatus includes a display device, and

the first process execution step executes, as the first process, a process of moving, using a position of the virtual area, a position of an object displayed on a screen of the display device.

13. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein

the input device includes a pressing-operation detection device, supporting the input surface so as to allow the input surface to be pressed, for detecting that the input surface has been pressed, and

the input data processing program causes the computer to further execute a second process execution step of executing, when the input surface having been pressed is detected, a second process.

14. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the information processing apparatus includes a display device,

the first process execution step executes, as the first process, a process of moving a position of a cursor displayed on a screen of the display device, in accordance with a position of the virtual area, and

the second process execution step executes the second process using, as a subject to be processed, an object designated by the cursor from among objects displayed on the screen.

15. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon an input data processing program which causes a computer, of an information processing apparatus including a display device, a first input device for detecting for an operation state of a player operating an operation section, and outputting a two-dimensional value representing the operation state, and a second input device for detecting that the operation section has been pressed, to execute:

a display control step of displaying, on a screen of the display device, a plurality of objects and a cursor for designating one of the plurality of objects;

a storage step of repeatedly acquiring, from the first input device, first data representing the two-dimensional value, and storing the first data in a memory of the information processing apparatus;

an acquisition step of acquiring, from the second input device, second data indicating that the operation section has been pressed;

a position control step of determining a position of the cursor using the two-dimensional value represented by the first data each time the first data is stored in the memory;

a previous position identification step of identifying, when the second data has been acquired, the position of the cursor using the first data which precedes, by a predetermined number of pieces of the first data, the first data which is stored in the memory immediately after the second data has been acquired, and

a process execution step of subjecting, to a process corresponding to an operation of the operation section being pressed, the object to have been designated by the cursor which was at the position identified by the previous position identification step, when the second data has been acquired.

16. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined number used by the previous position identification step is pre-set.

17. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein

the first input device is capable of detecting for an area size of an input area on which an input to an input surface is being made;

the first data represents the area size of the input area and the two-dimensional value;

the previous position identification step identifies, when a difference between the area size of the input area represented by the first data stored at a certain time and the area size of the input area represented by the first data immediately following the first data stored at the certain time has a value greater than a predetermined value, the position of the cursor by using one of the two-dimensional value represented by the first data stored at the certain time and the two-dimensional value represented by the first data immediately following the first data stored at the certain time.

18. An information processing apparatus including an input device for detecting for an input area on which an input to an input surface is being made, comprising:

a storage control means for repeatedly acquiring input area data representing the input area in accordance with a detection result from the input device, and storing the input area data in a memory of the information processing apparatus;

a virtual area determination means for determining a virtual area so as to follow a change of the input area represented by the input area data each time the input area data is stored in the memory; and

a first process execution means for executing a first process in accordance with the virtual area having been determined by the virtual area determination means.