INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, ANIMATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20100188409A1
• Filed: 01/21/2010
• Published: 07/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: OOBA, Osamu
• Granted Patent: US 8,860,730 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/473
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04106 Multi-sensing digitiser, i.e. digitiser using at least two different sensing technologies simultaneously or alternatively, e.g. for detecting pen and finger, for saving power or for improving position detection
• 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 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An information processing apparatus is provided which includes an input information recording unit for recording, when a movement stroke for an object is input, information on moving speed and movement stroke of an input tool used for inputting the movement stroke, and an object behaviour control unit for moving the object, based on the information on moving speed and movement stroke recorded by the input information recording unit, in such a way that the movement stroke of the input tool and a moving speed at each point in the movement stroke are replicated.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

an input information recording unit for recording, when a movement stroke for an object is input, information on moving speed and movement stroke of an input tool used for inputting the movement stroke; and

an object behaviour control unit for moving the object, based on the information on moving speed and movement stroke recorded by the input information recording unit, in such a way that the movement stroke of the input tool and a moving speed at each point in the movement stroke are replicated.

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

a mode switch unit for switching between a drawing mode for drawing the object and a stroke input mode for inputting the movement stroke for the object; and

an input tool distinguishing unit for distinguishing a type of the input tool,

wherein

the mode switch unit

switches to the drawing mode in case the type of the input tool is decided by the input tool distinguishing unit to be a first input tool, and

switches to the stroke input mode in case the type of the input tool is decided by the input tool distinguishing unit to be a second input tool different from the first input tool.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

a plurality of partial areas are set in an area including the object, and specific behaviour types including a movement behaviour are set for respective partial areas,

the information processing apparatus further includes a behaviour type selection unit for detecting in which of the plurality of partial areas a position touched at a beginning of an input operation by the input tool is included and selecting a behaviour type according to a result of the detection, when the movement stroke for the object is input, and

the object behaviour control unit makes the object behave according to the behaviour type selected by the behaviour type selection unit.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the behaviour type selection unit selects, in case a partial area to which a behaviour type different from the movement behaviour is set is detected, a behaviour type corresponding to a shape of the movement stroke, based on the information on movement stroke recorded by the input information recording unit.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein,

in case a plurality of the movement strokes are input by a plurality of the input tools,

the input information recording unit records information on the movement stroke input by each input tool, and

the behaviour type selection unit selects a behaviour type based on the information on the movement stroke relating to each input tool recorded by the input information recording unit.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

an area including the object is formed from a plurality of adjoining small rectangular areas, each smaller than one minimum-sized rectangular area capable of including a whole of the object, and each of the small rectangular areas includes a part of the object.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an input position detection unit for detecting position coordinates of the input tool every specific time period; and

an interpolation coordinate computation unit for computing interpolation coordinates to interpolate between the position coordinates of the input tool detected by the input position detection unit every specific time unit,

wherein

the input information recording unit records, as the information on movement stroke, the position coordinates detected by the input position detection unit and the interpolation coordinates computed by the interpolation coordinate computation unit.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein,

in case an input operation by the input tool is detected during a movement control of the object by the object behaviour control unit, the behaviour type selection unit selects the behaviour type with a position of the partial area at a time point of the detection as a reference.

9. An animation method comprising the steps of:

recording, when a movement stroke for an object is input, information on moving speed and movement stroke of an input tool used for inputting the movement stroke; and

moving the object, based on the information on moving speed and movement stroke recorded in the step of recording, in such a way that the movement stroke of the input tool and a moving speed at each point in the movement stroke are replicated.

10. A program for causing a computer to realize:

an input information recording function for recording, when a movement stroke for an object is input, information on moving speed and movement stroke of an input tool used for inputting the movement stroke; and

an object behaviour control function for moving the object, based on the information on moving speed and movement stroke recorded by the input information recording function, in such a way that the movement stroke of the input tool and a moving speed at each point in the movement stroke are replicated.