Display control apparatus, display control method and display control program

• US 20110175830A1
• Filed: 01/11/2011
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Homma, Fuminori, Sakata, Junichiro, Nashida, Tatsushi, Miyazawa, Yusuke
• Granted Patent: US 8,760,418 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A display control apparatus may include a proximity detector to detect proximity of an indicator to a display surface, and a touch detector to detect touch of the indicator against the display surface. A control unit may control display of an indicant on the display surface when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface, and may determine whether the indicant is selected based on detection of the touch of the indicator against the display surface by the touch detector.

Claims

1. A display control apparatus comprising:

a proximity detector to detect proximity of an indicator to a display surface;

a touch detector to detect touch of the indicator against the display surface; and

a control unit to control display of an indicant on the display surface when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface and to determine whether the indicant is selected based on detection of the touch of the indicator against the display surface by the touch detector.

2. The display control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is to control display of a plurality of indicants on the display surface when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface and to determine whether a first indicant among the plurality of indicants is selected based on detection of the touch of the indicator against the display surface by the touch detector.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is to control size of the indicant displayed on the display surface when the proximity detector detects displacement of a plurality of indicators in proximity to the display surface.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the size of the indicant is controlled to be enlarged.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the size of the indicant is controlled to be reduced.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is to control size of the indicant displayed on the display surface based on detecting at least three areas on the display surface corresponding, respectively, to at least three indicators detected by the proximity detector to be in proximity to the display surface.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control unit is to control the size of the indicant displayed on the display surface based on detecting a center position of each of the at least three areas.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control unit is to control the size of the indicant displayed on the display surface based on detecting a distance between the center positions of two areas of the at least three areas that are neighboring.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is to control scrolling of the indicant displayed on the display surface when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to a predetermined area of the display surface.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to a first predetermined area of the display surface, the control unit is to control scrolling of the indicant in a first direction across the display surface and, when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to a second predetermined area of the display surface, the control unit is to control scrolling of the indicant in a second direction across the display surface, wherein the first direction is other than the second direction, and the first predetermined area is other than the second predetermined area.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first direction is opposite to the second direction, wherein the display surface includes opposing first and second edges and wherein the first and second predetermined areas extend substantially parallel to the respective first and second edges.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is to control display of a second indicant on the display surface when the touch of the indicator against an area of the display surface, on which the indicant is displayed when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface, is detected by the touch detector.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second indicant is related to the indicant displayed on the display surface when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein, when the control unit controls the second indicant to be displayed on the display surface, the control unit controls the display on the display surface to be without the indicant displayed on the display surface when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein, when the touch of the indicator against the area of the display surface on which the indicant is displayed when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface is detected by the touch detector, the control unit controls the display on the display surface to switch from the display of the indicant on the display surface when the proximity detector detects that the indicator is in proximity to the display surface to the display of the second indicant on the display surface.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the proximity detector does not detect at each detected proximity area on the display surface, the control unit switches display on the display surface to a prior state.

17. A method for display control comprising:

detecting proximity of an indicator to a display surface;

detecting touch of the indicator against the display surface;

controlling display of an indicant on the display surface when the indicator is detected to be in proximity to the display surface; and

determining whether the indicant is selected based on detection of the touch of the indicator against the display surface.

18. A non-transitory recording medium recorded with a computer-readable program executable by a computer for enabling the computer to perform display control, the program comprising the steps of:

detecting proximity of an indicator to a display surface;

detecting touch of the indicator against the display surface;

controlling display of an indicant on the display surface when the indicator is detected to be in proximity to the display surface; and

determining whether the indicant is selected based on detection of the touch of the indicator against the display surface.