TERMINAL APPARATUS, DISPLAY CONTROL METHOD, AND DISPLAY CONTROL PROGRAM

• US 20100079371A1
• Filed: 12/03/2009
• Published: 04/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kawakami, Hiroyuki, Ohmori, Kenta, Kawakami, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,638,292 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

A terminal apparatus includes a display displaying a plurality of display elements representing options on a display screen, an image-capturing section capturing an image of an operator who is viewing the display screen, a face position detector detecting the position of a facial image of the operator in a captured image, and a controller controlling the display to move the plurality of display elements in a predetermined direction on the display screen and to sequentially update and display the display elements when it is detected that the facial image of the operator in the captured image is outside of a predetermined range, and to stop the movement of the plurality of display elements when it is detected that the facial image falls within the predetermined range.

Claims

1. A terminal apparatus comprising:

display means for displaying a plurality of display elements representing options on a display screen;

image-capturing means for capturing an image of an operator who is viewing the display screen;

face position detection means for detecting the position of a facial image of the operator in a captured image; and

control means for controlling the display means to move the plurality of display elements in a predetermined direction on the display screen and to sequentially update and display the display elements when it is detected that the facial image of the operator in the captured image is outside of a predetermined range, and to stop the movement of the plurality of display elements when it is detected that the facial image falls within the predetermined range.

2. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, when stopping the movement of the display elements, the control means highlights a display element at a predetermined position at the present time.

3. The terminal apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the display elements are expressed by cards of the same size having a front surface and a rear surface, and the control means displays a card group arranged in parallel at regular intervals in a three-dimensional space in perspective view from a viewpoint where at least a part of one surface of each card is visible.

4. The terminal apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the highlight is made such that one surface of a card corresponding to a display element at the predetermined position from among the plurality of cards is displayed so as to face the front.

5. The terminal apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the control means switches the surface visible to the operator to the front surface or the rear surface of the card in accordance with whether the facial image exists on one side or the other side of the predetermined range.

6. The terminal apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the control means changes the distance between the viewpoint and the card group in accordance with the size of the facial image.

7. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control means displays a projection image projected on a virtual projection plane facing the operator.

8. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein a card group serving as the plurality of display elements in a three-dimensional space is arranged in a plurality of columns, and the control means moves at least one card column in a horizontal direction in accordance with the movement of the facial image in a horizontal direction and selects a card column in accordance with the movement of the facial image in a vertical direction.

9. The terminal apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the movement of the card column in the vertical direction and the update of the card column are performed in accordance with the position of the facial image.

10. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, when the facial image is outside of the predetermined range, the control means variably controls the speed of movement and update of the display elements in accordance with the position or size of the facial image.

11. A display control method for a terminal apparatus including a display section displaying a plurality of display elements representing options on a display screen, and an image-capturing section capturing an image of an operator who is viewing the display screen, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting the position of a facial image of the operator in an image captured by the image-capturing section;

determining whether or not the facial image of the operator in the captured image is outside of a predetermined range;

when it is detected that the facial image is outside of the predetermined range, moving the plurality of display elements in a predetermined direction on the display screen, and sequentially updating and displaying the display elements; and

when it is detected that the facial image falls within the predetermined range, controlling the display section to stop the movement of the plurality of display elements and to highlight a display element at a specific position at the present time.

12. A display control program which is executed by a terminal apparatus including a display section displaying a plurality of display elements representing options on a display screen, and an image-capturing section capturing an image of an operator who is viewing the display screen, the program causing a computer to execute the steps of:

detecting the position of a facial image of the operator in an image captured by the image-capturing section;

determining whether or not the facial image of the operator in the captured image is outside of a predetermined range;

when it is detected that the facial image is outside of the predetermined range, moving the plurality of display elements in a predetermined direction on the display screen, and sequentially updating and displaying the display elements; and

when it is detected that the facial image falls within the predetermined range, controlling the display section to stop the movement of the plurality of display elements and to highlight a display element at a specific position at the present time.

13. A terminal apparatus comprising:

a display displaying a plurality of display elements representing options on a display screen;

an image-capturing section capturing an image of an operator who is viewing the display screen;

a face position detector detecting the position of a facial image of the operator in a captured image; and

a controller controlling the display to move the plurality of display elements in a predetermined direction on the display screen and to sequentially update and display the display elements when it is detected that the facial image of the operator in the captured image is outside of a predetermined range, and to stop the movement of the plurality of display elements when it is detected that the facial image falls within the predetermined range.