Display control device for selecting a displayed item based on input of a touch operation

• US 10,866,693 B2
• Filed: 11/22/2017
• Issued: 12/15/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kakinuma, Shoji, Hanaoka, Kensuke, Takeuchi, Yusuke, Akashi, Satoru, Momiyama, Yoshito, Ueda, Kazuyuki, Kamiya, Kazuhiro, Araki, Hitoshi, Kakuse, Kentaro
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Tan H
• Application Number:
  US15/821,413
• Publication Number:
  US 20180150190A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,119 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A display control device includes an operation information acquisition unit and a cursor coordinate controller. The cursor coordinate controller is configured to, in a state in which a cursor is set to a predetermined selection item, when operation information is acquired from the operation information acquisition unit, and when, based on a position of the cursor on a display surface of a display device, the selection item is included in a search area that is set in a direction corresponding to an operation direction included in the operation information on the display surface, select the selection item at a position closest to a reference point of the cursor in the direction corresponding to the operation direction as the selection item to be a movement destination of the cursor.

Claims

1. A display control device that controls selection of a plurality of selection items displayed on a display device disposed remotely from a touch operation unit based on operation information input from the touch operation unit, the display control device comprising:

a display control processor configured to;

acquire an operation direction of the touch operation unit as the operation information from the touch operation unit;

based on the acquired operation information, select a selection item from among the plurality of selection items displayed on the display device, and set a cursor that designates an operation target to the selected selection item;

when the cursor is set to a predetermined selection item of the plurality of selection items and when, based on a position of the cursor on a display surface of the display device, the selection item is included in a search area that is set in a direction corresponding to the operation direction included in the operation information on the display surface, select a selection item of the plurality of selection items at a position closest to a reference point of the cursor in the direction corresponding to the operation direction as the selection item to be a movement destination of the cursor;

when multiple selection items of the plurality of selection items are located within the determined search area, select one selection item of the multiple selection items based on a closest distance from each selection item to an origin point determined by the operation information input into the touch operation unit, the origin point designating an initial position of the cursor prior to movement set forth in the operation information;

when multiple selection items of the plurality of selection items are located at the position closest to the reference point of the cursor in the operation direction;

calculate a distance on the display surface between the reference point of the cursor and a selection item of the multiple selection items in a direction perpendicular to the direction corresponding to the operation direction on the display surface for the plurality of selection items, and

select a selection item of the multiple selection items that is at a shortest calculated distance as the selection item to be the movement destination of the cursor; and

when multiple selection items of the plurality of selection items are located at the shortest distance from the reference point of the cursor in the direction perpendicular to the direction corresponding to the operation direction on the display surface;

set an origin of the cursor to a position different from the reference point in the direction perpendicular to the direction corresponding to the operation direction on the display surface for the plurality of selection items, and

select a selection item of the multiple selection items that is at a shortest distance on the display surface from the origin of the cursor in the direction perpendicular to the direction corresponding to the operation direction as the selection item to be the movement destination of the cursor.

2. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control processor is configured to, when multiple selection items of the plurality of selection items are located at the position closest to the reference point of the cursor in the operation direction, select a selection item of the multiple selection items that is positioned in a predetermined direction in a direction perpendicular to the direction corresponding to the operation direction on the display surface as the selection item to be the movement destination of the cursor for the plurality of selection items.

3. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control processor is configured to:

acquire an operation amount in a first direction and an operation amount in a second direction intersecting the first direction from the touch operation unit; and

output a direction corresponding to a largest operation amount out of the operation amounts in the first and second directions as the direction corresponding to the operation direction of the touch operation unit.

4. A display control device that controls selection of a plurality of selection items displayed on a display device disposed remotely from a touch operation unit based on operation information input from the touch operation unit, the display control device comprising:

a display control processor configured to;

acquire an operation direction of the touch operation unit as the operation information from the touch operation unit;

based on the acquired operation information, select a selection item from among the plurality of selection items displayed on the display device, and set a cursor that designates an operation target to the selected selection item;

when the cursor is set to a predetermined selection item of the plurality of selection items and when, based on a position of the cursor on a display surface of the display device, the selection item is included in a search area that is set in a direction corresponding to the operation direction included in the operation information on the display surface, select a selection item of the plurality of selection items at a position closest to a reference point of the cursor in the direction corresponding to the operation direction as the selection item to be a movement destination of the cursor; and

when multiple selection items of the plurality of selection items are located within the determined search area, select one selection item of the multiple selection items based on a closest distance from each selection item to an origin point determined by the operation information input into the touch operation unit, the origin point designating an initial position of the cursor prior to movement set forth in the operation information, wherein;

a display area of the selection items in the display device is divided into a plurality of display areas,

when, based on the position of the cursor on the display surface of the display device, the search area that is set in the direction corresponding to the operation direction on the display surface extends over the plurality of display areas, and when, among the plurality of display areas, a display area on a side on which the cursor is positioned is a first display area and a display area on a side on which the cursor is not positioned is a second display area, the display control processor is configured to move the position of the cursor from the first display area to the second display area when no selection item is included in the search area among selection items of the plurality of selection items displayed in the first display area, and

when the position of the cursor is moved from the first display area to the second display area, the display control processor is configured to determine a presence or absence of the selection item from an area where the search area and the second display area overlap each other, and upon determining that no selection item is included, the display control processor is configured to determine the presence or absence of the selection item from other areas of the second display area.

5. The display control device according to claim 4, wherein the display control processor is configured to:

perform the determination regarding the presence or absence of the selection item in the second display area for each of a plurality of areas set by dividing the second display area in a direction perpendicular to the direction corresponding to the operation direction, and

when the position of the cursor is moved from the first display area to the second display area, determine the presence or absence of the selection item in order from an area at a position closest to the area where the search area and the second display area overlap each other in the direction perpendicular to the direction corresponding to the operation direction.