Information processing system, information processing apparatus, and information processing method

• US 9,898,106 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2015
• Issued: 02/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Ogino, Akira, Hamabe, Ryota
• Primary Examiner(s): Mishler, Robin
• Application Number:
  US14/881,929
• Publication Number:
  US 20160162056A1
• Time in Patent Office: 861 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3664 Details of the user input interface, e.g. buttons, knobs or sliders, including those provided on a touch screen; remote controllers; input using gestures
• 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 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

An information processing system includes a touch pad; a display unit; and a processing unit configured to move a cursor shown on a screen of the display unit, depending on an amount of movement and a movement direction of a contact point of a finger of an operator on the touch pad. The processing unit differentiates an amount of movement of the cursor with respect to the amount of the movement of the contact point, for a case where the number of the contact points on the touch pad is one, and for a case where the number of the contact points on the touch pad is two or more.

Claims

1. An information processing system, comprising:

a display; and

a processor configured to;

detect finger contact points on a touch pad for a period of time; and

while detecting finger contact points on the touch pad for the period of time;

when the number of detected finger contact points is one;

(i) set or maintain a Control-Display (CD) ratio, which is the amount of movement of a cursor on the display with respect to an amount of movement of the one detected finger contact point on the touch pad, to a first setting value, and (ii) cause the cursor to move on the display with movement of the one detected finger contact point, which is a first finger contact point, based on the CD ratio set to the first setting value; and

when the number of detected finger contact points on the touch pad is two;

(i) determine, based on the first detected finger contact point being an origin of an x-y axis, whether the other one of the two detected finger contact points, which is a second detected finger contact point, that is not the first detected finger contact point, is located in the first, second, third or fourth quadrants of the x-y axis, (ii) set or maintain, based on the determination regarding which of the four quadrants the detected second finger contact point is located in, the CD ratio to a second setting value, and (iii) cause the cursor to move on the display with the movement of the first detected finger contact point based on the CD ratio set to the second setting value.

2. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

differentiate the amount of movement of the cursor with respect to the amount of movement of the first detected contact point based on a third setting value, for a case where the number of contact points on the touch pad is three or more.

3. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

differentiate the amount of movement of the cursor with respect to the amount of movement of the first detected contact point such that the amount of movement of the cursor, for a case where the second detected finger contact point is located in the first or fourth quadrants is different from the amount of movement for a case where the second finger contact point is located in the second or third quadrants.

4. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

differentiate the amount of movement of the cursor with respect to the amount of movement of the first detected contact point such that the amount of movement of the cursor for a case where the second detected finger contact point is located in the first or second quadrants is different from the amount of movement for a case where the second finger contact point is located in the third or fourth quadrants.

5. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

differentiate the amount of movement of the cursor with respect to the amount of movement of the first detected contact point, when the number of contact points on the touch pad is two, depending on a distance between the two contact points.

9. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the display is positioned in the field of vision of a driver of a vehicle, when driving the vehicle.

12. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the second setting value is greater than the first setting value so as to implement a cursor moving speed for the second setting value that is greater than a cursor moving speed for the first setting value.

6. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

a touch pad;

a display; and

a processor configured to;

detect finger contact points on the touch pad for a period of time; and

while detecting finger contact points on the touch pad for the period of time;

when the number of detected finger contact points is one;

(i) set or maintain a Control-Display (CD) ratio, which is the amount of movement of a cursor on the display with respect to an amount of movement of the one detected finger contact point on the touch pad, to a first setting value, and (ii) cause the cursor to move on the display with movement of the one detected finger contact point, which is a first finger contact point, based on the CD ratio set to the first setting value; and

when the number of detected finger contact points on the touch pad is two;

(i) determine, based on the first detected finger contact point being an origin of an x-y axis, whether the other one of the two detected finger contact points, which is a second detected finger contact point, that is not the first detected finger contact point, is located in the first, second, third or fourth quadrants of the x-y axis, (ii) set or maintain, based on the determination regarding which of the four quadrants the detected second finger contact point is located in, the CD ratio to a second setting value, and (iii) cause the cursor to move on the display with the movement of the first detected finger contact point based on the CD ratio set to the second setting value.

8. The information processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the display is separate from the touch pad and is placed at a remote position from the touch pad.

10. The information processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to:

cause the display to move the cursor by scrolling on a navigational map screen on the display based on the CD ratio set to the second setting value.

11. The information processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein

the touch pad includes a switch or sensor below an upper surface of the touch pad, and

in a state where the cursor is moved on a selection region of the display, and a pressing operation has been detected via the switch or sensor, execute a function of the selection region.

7. An information processing method, the method comprising:

detecting finger contact points on the touch pad for a period of time; and

while detecting finger contact points for the period of time;

when the number of detected finger contact points is one;

(i) setting or maintaining a Control-Display (CD) ratio, which is the amount of movement of a cursor on the display with respect to an amount of movement of the one detected finger contact point on the touch pad, to a first setting value, and (ii) causing the cursor to move on the display with movement of the one detected finger contact point, which is a first finger contact point, based on the CD ratio set to the first setting value; and

when the number of detected finger contact points on the touch pad is two;

(i) determining, based on the first detected finger contact point being an origin of an x-y axis, whether the other one of the two detected finger contact points, which is a second detected finger contact point, that is not the first detected finger contact point, is located in the first, second, third or fourth quadrants of the x-y axis, (ii) setting or maintaining, based on the determination regarding which of the four quadrants the detected second finger contact point is located in, the CD ratio to a second setting value, and (iii) causing the cursor to move on the display with the movement of the first detected finger contact point based on the CD ratio set to the second setting value.