INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

• US 20110157047A1
• Filed: 12/20/2010
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Nakagawa, Koichi
• Granted Patent: US 8,810,527 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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 acquires a plurality of touching positions on a locus of touching operations, determines an operation direction of an operation by using a determination condition set based on the plurality of acquired touching positions, and performs an action predetermined in association with the determined operation direction. In addition, the information processing apparatus stores the determined operation direction on a memory and changes the determination condition based on the operation direction stored on the memory to determine an operation direction of a touching operation executed after the operation for which the operation direction has been determined and stored.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a plurality of touching positions on a locus of an operation for moving positions of touching a touch panel without discontinuing the touching on the touch panel;

a determination unit configured to determine an operation direction of the operation by using a determination condition based on the plurality of touching positions acquired by the acquisition unit;

a control unit configured to execute control, according to the operation direction determined by the determination unit, to perform an action predetermined in association with the operation direction;

a storage control unit configured to execute control to store, on a memory, the operation direction determined by the determination unit; and

a changing unit configured to change the determination condition based on the operation direction stored on the memory to determine an operation direction of a touching operation executed after the operation for which the operation direction has been determined and stored.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit is configured, if an operation for moving touching positions on the touch panel without discontinuing the touching on the touch panel is executed within a specific time after a previous touch panel touching operation has ended, to determine the operation direction based on the stored operation direction by using the determination condition changed by the changing unit, and is configured, if an operation for moving touching positions on the touch panel without discontinuing the touching on the touch panel is executed after a specific time has elapsed after a previous touch panel touching operation has ended, to determine the operation direction by using the determination condition that has not been changed by the changing unit.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit is configured to change the determination condition so that a direction parallel to the stored operation direction is more likely to be determined by the determination unit as the operation direction compared to other directions.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit is configured to change the determination condition so that a direction parallel to the stored operation direction is less likely to be determined by the determination unit as the operation direction compared to other directions.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit is configured to change the determination condition so that the same direction as the stored operation direction is more likely to be determined by the determination unit as the operation direction compared to other directions.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit is configured to change the determination condition so that the same direction as the stored operation direction is less likely to be determined by the determination unit as the operation direction compared to other directions.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit is configured, if an action corresponding to an operation executed in the same direction as the stored operation direction and another action corresponding to an operation executed in a direction reverse to the stored operation direction have an increase-decrease relationship or a raising-lowering relationship for the same function, to change the determination condition so that a direction parallel to the stored operation direction is more likely to be determined by the determination unit as the operation direction compared to other directions, and

wherein the changing unit is configured, if an action corresponding to an operation executed in the same direction as the stored operation direction and another action corresponding to an operation executed in a direction reverse to the operation direction do not have an increase-decrease relationship or a raising-lowering relationship for the same function, to change the determination condition so that the same direction as the stored operation direction is more likely to be determined by the determination unit as the operation direction compared to other directions.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit is configured, if a current operation mode of the information processing apparatus is a first mode, to execute changing processing, and

wherein the changing unit is configured, if a current operation mode of the information processing apparatus is a second mode, not to execute changing processing.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second mode includes at least one of a mode of an action in which a display portion of a display target is changed according to an operation executed in any operation direction and a mode of an action in which actions corresponding to operations in any operation direction do not have an increase-decrease relationship or a raising-lowering relationship.

10. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus configured to execute control according to an input executed via a touch panel, the method comprising:

acquiring a plurality of touching positions on a locus of an operation for moving positions of touching a touch panel without discontinuing the touching on the touch panel;

determining an operation direction of the operation by using a determination condition based on the plurality of acquired touching positions;

executing control, according to the determined operation direction, to perform an action predetermined in association with the operation direction;

executing control to store the determined operation direction on a memory; and

changing the determination condition based on the operation direction stored on the memory to determine an operation direction of a touching operation executed after the operation for which the operation direction has been determined and stored.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to claim 10.