INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND PROGRAM

• US 20110050608A1
• Filed: 08/23/2010
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: HOMMA, Fuminori, Nashida, Tatsushi
• Granted Patent: US 8,854,317 B2
• 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

There is provided an information processing apparatus including a display section capable of displaying information on its display surface, a touch panel capable of detecting a position in the display surface where an operation tool has contacted with as a contact position, a pressure value detection section detecting a pressure value which is a size of a pressure applied to the contact surface by a contact between the operation tool and the contact surface, a process control section specifying a first processing or a second processing as a processing subject to be executed in accordance with a change of the detected pressure value, a first processing section executing the first processing when the first processing is specified to be a processing subject to be executed, and a second processing section executing the second processing when the second processing is specified to be a processing subject to be executed.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a display section that has a display surface and is capable of displaying information on the display surface;

a touch panel that has a contact surface and is capable of detecting a position in the display surface where an operation tool has contacted with as a contact position;

a pressure value detection section that detects a pressure value which is a size of a pressure applied to the contact surface by a contact between the operation tool and the contact surface;

a process control section that specifies a first processing or a second processing as a processing subject to be executed in accordance with a change of the pressure value detected by the pressure value detection section;

a first processing section that executes the first processing when the process control section specifies the first processing as a processing subject to be executed; and

a second processing section that executes the second processing when the process control section specifies the second processing as a processing subject to be executed.

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

a pressure value monitor section that monitors the pressure value detected by the pressure value detection section in conjunction with an elapsed time; and

a drag detection section that detects a drag that is an operation in which the operation tool moves while contacting with the contact surface,

wherein the process control section specifies the first processing or the second processing as a processing subject to be executed according to an amount of change of the pressure value within a predetermined period of time monitored by the pressure value monitor section when the drag detection section detects the drag.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the drag detection section further detects a time when the drag has been started as a drag start time, and

wherein the process control section uses a ratio of the pressure value at the drag start time to the pressure value at a time the predetermine period of time earlier than the drag start time detected by the drag detection section as the amount of change within the predetermined period of time.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the process control section specifies the first processing as a processing subject to be executed when a condition that its ratio is equal to or less than a predetermined value is met, and specifies the second processing as a processing subject to be executed when the condition is not met.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a contact start detection section that detects a position where the operation tool starts contacting with the contact surface as a contact start position,

wherein the first processing section executes a processing using the contact start position detected by the contact start detection section as the first processing.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the drag detection section further detects a distance and a direction which the operation tool moves while contacting the contact surface by the drag, and

wherein the first processing section executes a processing to move an object displayed at a position corresponding to the contact start position detected by the contact start detection section, among information displayed on the display surface, based on the direction and the distance that are detected by the drag detection section as the first processing.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the second processing section executes a processing of scrolling a screen displayed in the display surface, among information displayed in the display surface, based on the distance and the direction which are detected by the drag detection section as the second processing.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the first processing section executes a processing of selecting information existing in an area to be specified based on the contact start position, and a position which is moved from the contact start position based on the direction and the distance that are detected by the drag detection section, among information displayed on the display surface, as the first processing.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the first processing section executes a processing of displaying a window, in which a button for specifying a command by the operation tool is arranged, at the contact start position of the display surface as the first processing.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein the first processing section executes a processing following the command specified by the selected button when determined that the operation tool has selected the button arranged in the window.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the second processing section fast-forwards or fast-rewinds a video image to be displayed in the display surface based on the direction and the distance that are detected by the drag detection section.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein when a contact start position is to be a start point, and when a position moved from the contact start position based on the direction and the distance that are detected by the drag detection section is to be a end point, the first processing section executes a processing to draw a line at a position in the display surface corresponding to from the start point to the end point as the first processing.

13. A information processing method comprising the steps of:

detecting a pressure value which is a size of a pressure applied to a contact surface by a contact between an operation tool and the contact surface by a pressure value detection section of an information processing apparatus which includes a display section that has a display surface and is capable of displaying information on the display surface, a touch panel that has the contact surface and is capable of detecting a position in the display surface where the operation tool has contacted with as a contact position, the pressure value detection section, a process control section, a first processing section, and a second processing section;

specifying, by the process control section, a first processing or a second processing as a processing subject to be executed in accordance with a change of the pressure value detected by the pressure value detection section;

executing, by the first processing section, the first processing when the process control section specifies the first processing as a processing subject to be executed; and

executing, by the second processing section, the second processing when the process control section specifies the second processing as a processing subject to be executed.

14. A program causing a computer to function as an information processing apparatus including:

a display section that has a display surface and is capable of displaying information on the display surface;

a touch panel that has a contact surface and is capable of detecting a position in the display surface where an operation tool has contacted with as a contact position;

a pressure value detection section that detects a pressure value which is a size of a pressure applied to the contact surface by a contact between the operation tool and the contact surface;

a process control section that specifies a first processing or a second processing as a processing subject to be executed in accordance with a change of the pressure value detected by the pressure value detection section;

a first processing section that executes the first processing when the process control section specifies the first processing to be a processing subject to be executed; and

a second processing section that executes the second processing when the process control section specifies the second processing to be a processing subject to be executed.