INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20100026649A1
• Filed: 07/27/2009
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Shimizu, Tomoyuki, Nagai, Hiroyuki
• Application Number:
  US12/509,723
• Publication Number:
  US 20100026649A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

In an information processing apparatus for controlling a multi-touch panel, a contacted area acquisition unit acquires a contacted area contacted in the multi-touch panel, and a side of hand determination unit determines whether or not the acquired contacted area has a predetermined shape. If it is determined that the contacted area has a predetermined shape, a selected range placing unit places a selected range based on a detected position in the contacted area, and displays the placed selected range in the multi-touch panel.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus for controlling a multi-touch panel, comprising:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a contacted area in said multi-touch panel;

a determination unit configured to determine whether or not said contacted area acquired by said acquisition unit has a predetermined shape; and

a placing unit configured to place a selected range based on a detection position in said contacted area if said determination unit determines that said contacted area has the predetermined shape.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said acquisition unit acquires as said contacted area an area where a plurality of contacted positions that are detected at the same time by said multi-touch panel are present with a density greater than or equal to a predetermined density.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said placing unit further comprises a unit configured to determine a size of said selected range based on a shape of said contacted area.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

said contacted area has a curved shape, and

said placing unit uses a circle having a size determined based on said curved shape as said selected range, and places said circle having its size determined besides said curved shape.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change unit configured to change a size of said selected range according to a change in a shape of the contacted area acquired by said acquisition unit.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said change unit performs a movement of said selected range in accordance with a movement of said contacted area.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said change unit inhibits a change of a size of said selected range during the movement of said selected range.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said change unit inhibits a movement of said selected range during a change of a size of said selected range.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a fixing unit configured to fix said selected range placed by said placing unit, if said acquisition unit detected a disappearance of said contacted area.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a change unit, wherein after a selected range is fixed by said fixing unit, if said acquisition unit detected a contacted area having a predetermined shape within a predetermined distance from the selected range, the change unit changes a display of an object selected using said selected range based on a change of said contacted area, by performing on the object at least one of magnification, reduction, translation, or rotation.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change unit configured to change, wherein if a contact that is not included in said contacted area is detected within a predetermined distance from said selected range placed by said placing unit, the change unit changes a shape of said selected range based on a position of said contact.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a shape of said selected range is determined in accordance with a shape of said contacted area determined by said determination unit.

13. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus that controls a multi-touch panel, comprising:

acquiring a contacted area contacted in said multi-touch panel;

determining whether or not said acquired contacted area has a predetermined shape;

placing a selected range based on a detection position of said acquired contacted area if said acquired contacted area is determined to have the predetermined shape;

displaying said placed selected range in said multi-touch panel.

14. A computer readable storage medium which stores a program for executing the method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to claim 13 by a computer.