Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

• US 8,624,931 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2008
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Miyashita, Ken, Matsuda, Kouichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung, Kee M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cain, II, Leon T
• Application Number:
  US12/274,619
• Publication Number:
  US 20090147027A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,874 Days
• Field of Search: 345630-677
• US Class Current: 345/676
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor

Abstract

There is provided an information processing apparatus that classifies objects having the respective attribute information which are disposed on a display screen of a graphical user interface, the apparatus including an operation information acquisition unit that acquires operation information containing movement information which indicates a position of a movement destination of the object on the display screen, an instructive request estimate unit that estimates an instructive request for classification processing on the object based on the attribute information and the movement information of the object, a classification processing unit that classifies the object based on the estimated instructive request, and a display control unit that controls display of the object on the display screen. Thus, the user can easily classify the objects without explicitly specifying classification conditions or instructing the performing of the classification processing.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus having a central processing unit that classifies objects associated with the respective attribute information and associated with position information representing a position where the objects are disposed on a display screen, the apparatus comprising:

a display control unit that controls display of the object on the display screen, wherein the display control unit further comprises an object position control unit that acquires a movement instruction provided by a user and performs movement of the object on the display screen based on the movement instruction;

an operation information acquisition unit that acquires operation information of an object containing movement information, which indicates a movement destination position of the object on the display screen resulting from the movement of the object on the display screen by the object position control unit;

an instructive request estimate unit implemented by the central processing unit that determines, based on whether a compatibility level between the attribute information of the object and attribute information of a resultant proximate object is greater than a predetermined threshold, whether or not the movement of the object on the display screen by the object position control unit is a classification processing request for the object;

a classification processing unit that classifies the object based on a result of the determination by the instructive request estimate unit,

wherein the attribute information of the object is distinct from the operation information and a position of the object on the display screen resulting from movement of the object on the display screen by the object position control unit.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructive request estimate unit further compares the attribute information of the object with classification conditions of a target object group and, in response to obtaining a positive result from the comparison with regard to compatibility, concludes that the movement of the object is a classification processing request for the object, the target object group including a plurality of objects having a common attribute information and having the classification conditions corresponding to the common attribute information and position information indicating a position on the display screen.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the operation information acquisition unit acquires the movement information about a plurality of objects, and

in response to having determined that the objects and a first object group are disposed close to each other from the position information of the first object group and the movement information of the objects and having determined that the attribute information of the objects matches the classification conditions of the first object group, the instructive request estimate unit determines that the movement of the objects is a classification processing request for adding the objects to the first object group.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the classification processing unit sets the first object group including the objects as the target object group, thus starting classification processing based on the classification conditions of the first object group.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the classification processing unit initiates movement of a target object toward the target object group at a constant movement speed, and

the display control unit controls display so that the target object moves toward the target object group at the constant movement speed.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in response to the target object being permitted to move close to the target object group, the classification processing unit includes the target object in the target object group.

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

the operation information acquisition unit acquires movement information of the target object, which indicates a movement destination position of the target object on the display screen resulting from movement of the target object, and

the instructive request estimate unit determines, based on the movement information of the target object, whether or not the movement of the target object is a classification processing request for the target object.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein in response to having determined that the target object is prompted to move from the position information of the target object group and from the movement information of the target object, the instructive request estimate unit determines whether or not the movement of the target object resulting from the prompt is a request for continuation of the classification processing.

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

in response to a determination by the instructive request estimate unit that the movement of the target object is the request for the continuation of the classification processing, the classification processing unit initiates an increase in the movement speed of the target object, and

the display control unit controls display so that the target object moves toward the target object group at the increased movement speed.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein in response to having determined that the target object is inhibited from moving from the position information of the target object group and the movement information of the target object, the instructive request estimate unit determines that the movement of the target object is not a request for the classification processing.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

in response to the instructive request estimating unit determining that the movement is not the request for the classification processing, the classification processing unit initiates cessation of movement of the target object, and

the display control unit controls display so that the target object is stopped in motion.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein in response to the instructive request estimating unit determining that the movement is not the request for the classification processing, the classification processing unit sets the target object group as a non-targeted object group.

13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display control unit controls display so that the target object is displayed in way such that the target object is distinguishable from objects other than the target object.

14. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the operation information acquisition unit acquires setting cancellation information which indicates an instruction to cancel targeting of a specific object group, and

the classification processing unit cancels targeting of the specific object group based on the setting cancellation information.

15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display control unit controls display so that the target object group is displayed in way such that the target object group is distinguishable from object groups other than the target object group.

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

the operation information acquisition unit acquires the movement information about the movement of the object and then acquires second movement information about a movement of a second object different from the object, and

in response to having determined that the object and second object are disposed close to each other from the movement information and the second movement information and having determined that the object and the second object have common attribute information, the instructive request estimate unit determines that the movement of the object and the movement of the second object is a classification processing request for classifying the object and the second object into a common new object group.

17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the classification processing unit groups the object and the second object the new object group, thus starting the new object group based on classification conditions of the common attribute information of the object and the second object.

20. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information of the object is distinct from the position of the object on the display screen resulting from movement of the object.

21. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information is distinct from an appearance of the object on the display screen.

18. An information processing method, implemented by a information processing apparatus having a central processing unit, of classifying objects associated with the respective attribute information and associated with position information representing a position where the objects are disposed on a display screen, the method comprising the steps of:

controlling display of the object on the display screen, the controlling further comprising

acquiring a movement instruction provided by a user, and

performing movement of the object on the display screen based on the movement instruction;

acquiring operation information containing movement information of an object, which indicates a movement destination position of the object on the display screen resulting from the movement of the object on the display screen by the performing;

determining, based on whether a compatibility level between the attribute information of the object and attribute information of a resultant proximate object is greater than a predetermined threshold using the central processing unit, whether or not the movement of the object on the display screen by the performing is a classification processing request for the object, the attribute information of the object being distinct from the operation information and a position of the object on the display screen resulting from movement of the object on the display screen by the performing; and

classifying the object based on a result of the determination by the determining.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a program that when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform an information processing method of classifying objects associated with the respective attribute information and associated with position information representing a position where the objects are disposed on a display screen, the information processing method comprising the steps of:

controlling display of the object on the display screen, the controlling further comprising

acquiring a movement instruction provided by a user, and

performing movement of the object on the display screen based on the movement instruction;

acquiring operation information containing movement information of an object, which indicates a movement destination position of the object on the display screen resulting from movement of the object on the display screen by the performing;

determining, based on whether a compatibility level between the attribute information of the object and attribute information of a resultant proximate object is greater than a predetermined threshold, whether or not the movement of the object on the display screen by the performing is a classification processing request for the object, the attribute information of the object being distinct from the operation information and a position of the object on the display screen resulting from movement of the object on the display screen by the performing;

classifying the object based on a result of the determination by the determining; and

controlling display of the object on the display screen.