Input method and input apparatus

• US 8,704,773 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2007
• Issued: 04/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Rekimoto, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Pervan, Michael
• Application Number:
  US11/826,805
• Publication Number:
  US 20080018614A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,470 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-178, 178 1801- 1811, 178 1901- 1907
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04112 Electrode mesh in capacitive digitiser: electrode for touch sensing is formed of a mesh of very fine, normally metallic, interconnected lines that are almost invisible to see. This provides a quite large but transparent electrode surface, without need for ITO or similar transparent conductive material
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• 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 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

There are provided with a detection sensor 110 for detecting an approach and a contact of a living body or a material body in a predetermined detection region, a control means which outputs a drive signal in a case when an approach is detected by a detection sensor and which performs an input process for accepting an input of a predetermined function in a case when a contact is detected on a predetermined condition, and an actuator 120 being vibrated temporarily by the drive signal outputted by the control means. By doing like this, in a case when, for example, a finger, a pen or the like is approached to the detection region of the sensor while the equipment is held in a hand, the equipment vibrates temporarily by detecting the approach in the sensor 110 and the vibration transmits to the hand holding the equipment such that it becomes possible to comprehend that an input will be carried out by touching the position.

Claims

1. An information-processing apparatus, comprising:

a display control unit controlling a display unit to display information; and

a first contact position detecting unit and a second contact position detecting unit, the first contact position detecting unit being disposed on a first surface of the information-processing apparatus, the second contact position detecting unit being disposed on a second surface of the information-processing apparatus, and the first surface being opposite the second surface, wherein;

the first contact position detecting unit is configured to detect a first contact with the information-processing apparatus, the first contact being associated with a position on the first surface;

the second contact position detecting unit is configured to detect a second contact with the information-processing apparatus, the second contact being associated with a position on the second surface;

the display control unit determines whether a direction of a change in the first contact position corresponds to a direction of a change in the second contact position, and controls the display unit based on the determination.

2. The information-processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the first or the second contact position detecting units detects (i) a motion of the corresponding first or second contact position, and (ii) a change in a distance separating the first and second contact positions; and

the display unit displays at least a portion of the information in accordance with an amount or a direction of the second change.

3. The information-processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a third contact position detecting unit for detecting a third contact with the information-processing apparatus, the third contact being associated with a corresponding contact position, and the third contact position detecting unit being disposed on an end of the information-processing apparatus opposite of the first contact position detecting unit and the second contact position detecting unit.

4. The information-processing apparatus claim 3, wherein:

at least one of the first or the second contact position detecting units detects (i) a motion of the corresponding first or second contact position, and (ii) a change in a distance separating the first and second contact positions; and

the third contact position detecting unit detects a change in the third contact position;

the information-processing apparatus increases or decreases an amount of adjustment of a controlling operation in accordance with the change in separation distance; and

the information-processing apparatus adjusts the controlling operation in accordance with the change in the third contact position.

5. The information-processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the first or second contact position detecting units detects the change in one of the first or second contact positions, the first and second contact positions being separated by a fixed distance; and

the display control unit modifies a display position of at least a portion of the information, based on the change in the first and second contact positions.

6. The information-processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display control unit further controls the display unit to perform a scroll operation on at least a portion of the displayed information, when the direction of change in the first contact position corresponds to the direction of change in the second contact position.

7. The information-processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display control unit further controls the display unit to perform a zooming operation on at least a portion of the displayed information, when the direction of change in the first contact position does not correspond to the direction of change in the second contact position.

8. An information-processing apparatus, comprising:

a control unit for controlling said information-processing apparatus;

a display control unit controlling a display unit to display information; and

a first contact position detecting unit and a second contact position detecting unit, the first contact position detecting unit being disposed on a first surface of the information-processing apparatus, the second contact position detecting unit being disposed on a second surface of the information-processing apparatus, and the first surface being opposite the second surface, wherein;

the first contact position detecting unit is configured to detect a first contact with the information-processing apparatus, the first contact being associated with a position on the first surface;

the second contact position detecting unit is configured to detect a second contact with the information-processing apparatus, the second contact being associated with a position on the second surface; and

the display control unit determines whether a direction of a change in the first contact position corresponds to a direction of a change in the second contact position, and controls the display unit based on the determination.

9. The information-processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

at least one of the first or second contact position detecting units detects the change in one of the first or second contact positions, the first and second contact positions being separated by a fixed distance; and

the display control unit modifies a display position of at least a portion of the information, based on the change in the first and second contact positions.