Portable Terminal Having User Interface Function, Display Method, And Computer Program

• US 20120188243A1
• Filed: 01/16/2012
• Published: 07/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Fujii, Takahiro, Karasawa, Hidenori, Hiramatsu, Shuji
• Granted Patent: US 9,201,467 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/426
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• 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: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/20 Perspective computation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2215/16 Using real world measurements to influence rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2016 Rotation, translation, scaling

Abstract

A portable terminal is provided with: a display device; a sensor configured to detect the orientation or position of the portable terminal; a data storage unit configured to store data; and a display control unit configured to display on the display device an icon or object that corresponds to the data stored in the data storage unit. The display control unit acquires information regarding the orientation or position of the portable terminal from the sensor and determines a display mode of the icon or object in accordance with a change in the orientation or position of the portable terminal.

Claims

1. A portable terminal comprising:

a display device;

a sensor configured to detect an orientation or position of the portable terminal;

a storage unit configured to store data; and

a display control unit configured to display on the display device an icon or object that corresponds to the data stored in the storage unit, wherein

the display control unit acquires information regarding the orientation or position of the portable terminal from the sensor and determines a display mode of the icon or object in accordance with a change in the orientation or position of the portable terminal.

2. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit enlarges the icon or object for display upon detection of an acceleration of at least a predetermined value in a vertical direction with respect to a screen of the display device.

3. The portable terminal according to claim 2, wherein the display control unit further displays a background image on the display device and blurs the background image when enlarging the icon or object for display.

4. The portable terminal according to claim 2, wherein the display control unit fixes, upon reception of a command input for stopping the icon or object when the icon or object is being enlarged for display, the display of the icon or object at that time.

5. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit acquires information regarding the orientation of the portable terminal, calculates virtual gravity acting upon the icon or object in accordance with a tilt of the portable terminal, and determines a display mode of the icon or object based on the virtual gravity.

6. The portable terminal according to claim 5, wherein the display control unit changes, while fixing a position of the icon or object at a predetermined position in a three-dimensional virtual space, the orientation of the icon or object by enabling an effect of the virtual gravity.

7. The portable terminal according to claim 5, wherein the display control unit arranges the icon or object in a three-dimensional virtual space and causes the virtual gravity to act upon the icon or object so as to move the icon or object on the screen of the display device.

8. The portable terminal according to claim 1 further comprising:

a lighting calculation unit configured to arrange the icon or object and a light source at respective positions that are calculated based on the orientation or position of the portable terminal in a three-dimensional virtual space and to render a surface of the icon or object when a light emitted from the light source hits the surface.

9. The portable terminal according to claim 8, wherein the lighting calculation unit arranges, in the three-dimensional virtual space, the portable terminal having the icon or object arranged on a surface thereof and calculates, in accordance with the orientation or displacement of the portable terminal, a relative position with respect to the icon or object and the light source in the three-dimensional virtual space.

10. The portable terminal according to claim 8, wherein

the display control unit further displays a background image on a screen that displays the icon or object, and

the lighting calculation unit renders the shadow of the icon or object that is projected onto the background image.

11. The portable terminal according to claim 2, wherein the display control unit displays text information, regarding the icon or object, near the icon or object and allows the text information to be scrolled in accordance with the orientation or displacement of the portable terminal.

12. The portable terminal according to claim 11, wherein the display control unit displays only a predetermined number of characters included in the text information and allows a portion of the text information that is not being displayed to be displayed by scrolling the text information to the left or to the top when the portable terminal is tilted such that the left or upper side of the portable terminal is lowered in a case where the number of characters in the text information is larger than the predetermined number.

13. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit further displays a background image on the display device and changes the background image in accordance with the orientation of the portable terminal.

14. The portable terminal according to claim 13, wherein

the storage unit stores a first background image for when a tilt of the portable terminal from a horizontal is less than a predetermined angle and a second background image for when the tilt of the portable terminal from the horizontal is at least the predetermined angle, and

the display control unit reads the first background image or the second background image from the storage unit in accordance with the tilt of the portable terminal from the horizontal and displays the first background image or the second background image.

15. The portable terminal according to claim 14, wherein the first background image is an image of an object viewed from above and the second background image is an image of a landscape.

16. A display method comprising:

acquiring, from a sensor for detecting an orientation or position of a portable terminal, information regarding the orientation or position of the portable terminal; and

determining, when displaying an icon or object that corresponds to data stored in a storage unit for storing data on a display device, a display mode of the icon or object in accordance with a change in the orientation or position of the portable terminal.

17. A non-transitory, computer-readable recording medium containing a program executable by a computer, the program comprising:

a module of a display control unit configured to acquire, from a sensor for detecting an orientation or position of a portable terminal, information regarding the orientation or position of the portable terminal; and

a module of the display control unit configured to determine, when displaying an icon or object that corresponds to data stored in a storage unit for storing data on a display device, a display mode of the icon or object in accordance with a change in the orientation or position of the portable terminal.

18. (canceled)