OBJECT SELECTING DEVICE, COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM, AND OBJECT SELECTING METHOD

• US 20120139915A1
• Filed: 05/10/2011
• Published: 06/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Muikaichi, Masahiro, Shinomoto, Yuki, Hakoda, Kotaro
• Application Number:
  US13/389,125
• Publication Number:
  US 20120139915A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics

Abstract

A depth selector 18 selects a depth selecting position indicating a position along a depth axis Z, based on a depth selection command to be inputted by a user. A display judger 19 judges whether each of real objects RO is located on a forward side or on a rearward side with respect to the depth selecting position Zs in a depth space, and extracts real objects RO located on the reward side, as real objects RO to be displayed, in each of which a tag T1 is displayed. A drawing section 22 determines, on a display screen, a display position of each of the real objects RO to be displayed which have been extracted by the display judger 19 to draw the tags T1 at the determined display positions.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. An object selecting device for allowing a user to select from among a plurality of objects three-dimensionally displayed on a display section, comprising:

a drawing section which determines a display position of each of the objects on the display section, based on a position of each of the objects disposed in a predetermined depth space, to draw each of the objects at the determined display position;

a depth selector which selects a depth selecting position indicating a position for defining the depth space along a depth axis, based on a depth selection command to be inputted from the user; and

a display judger which judges whether each of the objects is located on a forward side or on a rearward side with respect to the depth selecting position in the depth space to extract only the objects located on the rearward side, as objects to be displayed, wherein

the drawing section draws the objects to be displayed which have been extracted by the display judger.

12. The object selecting device according to claim 11, further comprising:

a slide operation section which is slid in a predetermined direction in response to user'"'"'s manipulation, wherein

the depth selector accepts a slide amount of the slide operation section as the depth selection command to change the depth selecting position in association with the slide amount.

13. The object selecting device according to claim 12, further comprising:

a fine adjustment operation section which finely adjusts the slide amount of the slide operation section in response to user'"'"'s manipulation, wherein

the slide amount is set in such a manner that a change amount to be displayed on the display section in the case where the fine adjustment section is manipulated by the user is smaller than a change amount to be displayed on the display section in the case where the slide operation section is manipulated by the user.

14. The object selecting device according to claim 13, wherein

the fine adjustment operation section is constituted of a rotary dial, and

the depth selector changes the depth selecting position in cooperation with the slide amount of the slide operation section which is slid by rotating the rotary dial.

15. The object selecting device according to claim 12, wherein

the depth selector increases a change rate of the depth selecting position with respect to a change rate of the slide amount, as the slide amount increases.

16. The object selecting device according to claim 11, wherein

the depth space is divided into a plurality of depth regions along the depth axis,

the object selecting device further includes a select operation section which includes a plurality of selection segments correlated to the respective depth regions and arranged in a certain order with different colors from each other, the select operation section being operable to accept the depth selection command,

the drawing section draws each of the objects, while attaching the same color as the color of the selection segment correlated to the depth region to which each of the objects belongs, and

the depth selector selects a position on a forward-side borderline of the depth region correlated to the selection segment selected by the user with respect to the depth axis, as the depth selecting position.

17. The object selecting device according to claim 11, wherein

the display section is constituted of a touch panel, and

the object selecting device further includes an object selector which selects a forwardmost displayed object, out of the objects to be displayed which are located in a predetermined area away from a touch position on a display image touched by the user.

18. The object selecting device according to claim 17, wherein

the object selector extracts the objects to be displayed, as candidate select objects, the objects to be displayed being located in a predetermined distance range away from a position in the depth space corresponding to the touch position.

19. A computer-readable recording medium which stores an object selecting program which causes a computer to function as an object selecting device for allowing a user to select from among a plurality of objects three-dimensionally displayed on a display section, the object selecting device including:

a drawing section which determines a display position of each of the objects on the display section, based on a position of each of the objects disposed in a predetermined depth space, to draw each of the objects at the determined display position;

a depth selector which selects a depth selecting position indicating a position for defining the depth space along a depth axis, based on a depth selection command to be inputted from the user; and

a display judger which judges whether each of the objects is located on a forward side or on a rearward side with respect to the depth selecting position in the depth space to extract only the objects located on the rearward side, as objects to be displayed, wherein

the drawing section draws the objects to be displayed which have been extracted by the display judger.

20. An object selecting method for allowing a user to select from among a plurality of objects three-dimensionally displayed on a display section, comprising:

a drawing step of causing a computer to determine a display position of each of the objects on the display section, based on a position of each of the objects disposed in a predetermined depth space, to draw each of the objects at the determined display position;

a depth selecting step of causing the computer to select a depth selecting position indicating a position for defining the depth space along a depth axis, based on a depth selection command to be inputted from the user; and

a display judging step of causing the computer to judge whether each of the objects is located on a forward side or on a rearward side with respect to the depth selecting position in the depth space to extract only the objects located on the rearward side, as objects to be displayed, wherein

in the drawing step, the objects to be displayed which have been extracted in the display judging step are drawn.