Input method and input apparatus

• US 20080018614A1
• Filed: 07/18/2007
• Published: 01/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Rekimoto, Junichi
• Granted Patent: US 8,704,773 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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

1-15. -15. (canceled)

16. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

a display unit for displaying information; and

a first contact position detecting unit for detecting a contact position with the information processing apparatus, wherein;

the contact position detecting unit detects simultaneous contact of at least two positions and detects a first change in a distance between the two positions, and

the display unit displays the information enlarged in accordance with an increase of the distance or displays information reduced in accordance with a decrease of the distance.

17. The information processing apparatus of claim 16, wherein:

the contact position detecting unit detects a second change in one of the two positions, and

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

18. The information processing apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a second contact position detecting unit for detecting one of the two positions, wherein the first contact position detecting unit and the second contact position detecting unit are on one or more end portions of the information processing apparatus.

19. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein:

the first contact position detecting unit detects a second change in one of the two positions,

the second contact position detecting unit detects a third change in one of the two positions,

the information processing apparatus increases or decreases an amount of adjustment of a controlling operation in accordance with the second change, and

the information processing apparatus adjusts the controlling operation in accordance with the third change and in accordance with the amount of adjustment.

20. A method for processing information by an information processing apparatus, the method comprising:

displaying information on a display unit;

detecting simultaneous contact with at least two positions on the information processing apparatus;

detecting a first change in a distance between the two positions; and

displaying the information enlarged in accordance with an increase of the distance or reduced in accordance with a decrease of the distance.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

detecting a second change in one of the two positions; and

displaying the information in accordance with an amount or a direction of the second change.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

positioning a first contact detecting unit and a second contact detecting unit on one or more end portions of the information processing apparatus.

23. The information processing apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising:

detecting, by the first contact detecting unit, a second change in one of the two positions;

detecting, by the second contact position detecting unit, a third change in one of the two positions;

increasing or decreasing an amount of adjustment of a controlling operation of the information processing apparatus in accordance with the second change; and

adjusting the controlling operation in accordance with the third change and in accordance with the amount of adjustment.

24. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform a method for processing information on an information processing apparatus, the method comprising:

displaying information on a display unit;

detecting simultaneous contact with at least two positions on the information processing apparatus;

detecting a first change in a distance between the two positions; and

displaying the information enlarged in accordance with an increase of the distance or reduced in accordance with a decrease of the distance.

25. The computer-readable medium claim 24, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting a second change in one of the two positions; and

displaying the information in accordance with an amount or a direction of the second change.

26. The computer-readable medium claim 24, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting, by a first contact detecting unit located on an end of the information processing apparatus, a second change in one of the two positions;

detecting, by a second contact position detecting unit located on an end of the information processing apparatus, a third change in one of the two positions;

increasing or decreasing an amount of adjustment of a controlling operation of the information processing apparatus in accordance with the second change; and

adjusting the controlling operation in accordance with the third change and in accordance with the amount of adjustment.

27. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

a control unit for controlling said information processing apparatus;

a display unit for displaying information; and

a first contact position detecting unit for detecting a contact position with the information processing apparatus, wherein

the contact position detecting unit detects simultaneous contact of at least two positions and detects a first change in a distance between the two positions, and

the control unit controls display of the information by the display unit, the information being enlarged in accordance with an increase of the distance or being reduced in accordance with a decrease of the distance.