INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, OPERATION INPUT METHOD AND OPERATION INPUT PROGRAM

• US 20140022214A1
• Filed: 09/23/2013
• Published: 01/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Miyazawa, Yusuke, Homma, Fuminori
• Granted Patent: US 9,507,469 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• 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 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- 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 without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an information processing device including a contact detection unit configured to detect a contact operation for an operation surface, an approach detection unit configured to detect an approach operation for the operation surface, and a control unit configured to recognize the contact operation and the approach operation as a series of operation inputs when the contact operation and the approach operation are continuously detected.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. An information processing device comprising:

a contact detection unit configured to detect a contact operation for an operation surface;

an approach detection unit configured to detect an approach operation for the operation surface; and

a control unit configured to recognize the contact operation and the approach operation as related inputs,

wherein the control unit is further configured to control execution of a predetermined process based on a predetermined contact operation detected by the contact detection unit when the approach detection unit detects a respective predetermined approach operation, the predetermined process comprising changing a characteristic of a displayed item corresponding to the contact operation according to the approach operation.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit recognizes the contact operation and the approach operation as the related inputs when the contact operation and the approach operation are continuously detected within a predetermined time, and recognizes the contact operation and the approach operation as individual operation inputs when the contact operation and the approach operation are continuously detected after exceeding the predetermined time.

4. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein, when the approach detection unit detects an approach operation within a predetermined range from a contact position within a predetermined time after the contact detection unit detects a contact operation, the control unit recognizes the contact operation and the approach operation as the related inputs.

5. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the operation surface includes a first operation surface and a second operation surface which is arranged separately from the first operation surface, in which each of the first operation surface and the second operation surface is configured to enable detection of one or more contact operations and one or more approach operations.

6. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined process comprises a scrolling operation.

7. An operation input method comprising the steps of:

detecting a contact operation for an operation surface by a contact detection unit;

detecting an approach operation for the operation surface by an approach detection unit;

recognizing the contact operation and the approach operation as related inputs; and

controlling execution of a predetermined process based on a predetermined contact operation detected by the detecting a contact operation step when the detecting an approach operation step detects a respective predetermined approach operation, the predetermined process comprising changing a characteristic of a displayed item corresponding to the contact operation in accordance with the approach operation.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon an operation input program to enable an information processing device to perform an operation input method, said method comprising the steps of:

detecting a contact operation for an operation surface by a contact detection unit;

detecting an approach operation for the operation surface by an approach detection unit;

recognizing the contact operation and the approach operation as related inputs; and

controlling execution of a predetermined process based on a predetermined contact operation detected by the detecting a contact operation step when the detecting an approach operation step detects a respective predetermined approach operation, the predetermined process comprising changing a characteristic of a displayed item corresponding to the contact operation in accordance with the approach operation.