Gesture-based data processing method and apparatus

• US 5,798,758 A
• Filed: 04/10/1996
• Issued: 08/25/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Harada, Takashi, Fukuda, Ryoji
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US08/630,750
• Time in Patent Office: 867 Days
• Field of Search: 395/339, 395/340, 395/335, 395/326, 395/333, 345/339, 345/326, 345/340, 345/327, 345/342, 345/341, 345/350, 345/352, 345/353, 345/354, 345/355, 345/356, 345/357
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

The invention aims to provide a data input method and apparatus with improved operations capable of reusing previously input gestures with simple operations. The invention aims to improve the operation of a command designation by notifying previously input gestures and allowing a user to re-use the previously input gestures with simple operations. In order to achieve the above objects, a gesture display area for displaying previously input gestures and commands is formed on a display screen, and if the gesture display area is designated, the command corresponding to the designated gesture is executed.

Claims

1. A data processing apparatus usable with input means for inputting a trace and with recognizing means for recognizing the trace input by the input means as a gesture and converting the gesture into a corresponding command, said apparatus comprising:

retaining means for retaining a trace of the gesture input from the input means and a command corresponding to the trace;

display means for displaying a plurality of gestures corresponding to traces of gestures retained by said retaining means;

selection means for selecting a gesture from the plurality of gestures displayed by said display means;

designation means for designating an operand object; and

execution means for executing a command corresponding to the gesture selected by said selection means for the operand object designated by said designation means.

2. A data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said selection means selects a plurality of gestures in an sequential order and said execution means executes commands for the plurality of gestures selected by said selection means in the sequential order.

3. A data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for inputting the trace is a digitizer.

4. A data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means is a liquid crystal display.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means displays the trace of the gesture together with a plurality of operand objects one of which can be designated by said designation means.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means displays a command instead of a trace of a gesture.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a new trace is input, said display means displays a new gesture in addition to the displayed gestures.

8. A data processing apparatus comprising:

command input means for inputting a command;

command history storing means for storing a history of a plurality of commands input by said command input means;

display control means for controlling a display device to display a plurality of patterns corresponding to a plurality of commands determined by the history of the plurality of commands stored in said command history storing means;

selection means for selecting a pattern from the plurality of patterns displayed by the display control means;

designation means for designating an operand object; and

execution means for executing a command corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of patterns on the display device for the operand object designated by said designation means.

9. A data processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said command history storing means stores latest N commands input from said command input means in the input order of N commands.

10. A data processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said display control means controls to display N patterns corresponding to N commands stored in said command history storing means in the order of storing N commands.

11. A data processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said command history storing means stores an input occurrence frequency of a command input from said command input means, and said display control means determines a command whose pattern is to be displayed, in accordance with input occurrence frequencies of a plurality of commands stored in said command history storing means.

12. A data processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said command input means is a digitizer.

13. A data processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said command input means is a keyboard.

14. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said display control means controls the display device to display the plurality of patterns together with a plurality of operand object one of which can be designated by said designation means.

15. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein when a new command is input, said display control means controls the display device to display a pattern corresponding to the new command in addition to the displayed patterns.

16. A data processing method usable with an input device for inputting a trace and with a recognizing device for recognizing the input trace as a gesture and converting the gesture into a corresponding command, comprising the steps of:

retaining a trace of the gesture input by the input device and a command corresponding to the trace;

displaying a plurality of gestures on a display, the plurality of gestures corresponding to traces retained by said retaining step;

selecting a gesture from the plurality of gestures displayed by the displaying step;

designating an operand object; and

executing a command corresponding to the selected gesture for the designated operand object.

17. A data processing method according to claim 16, wherein said selecting step selects a plurality of gestures in a sequential and said executing step executes commands for the plurality of selected gestures in the sequential order.

18. A data processing method according to claim 16, wherein the input device comprises a digitizer.

19. A data processing method according to claim 16, wherein the display comprises a liquid crystal display.

37. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said display means displays the trace of the gesture together with a plurality of operand objects one of which can be designated by said designation means.

38. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said display means displays a command instead of a trace of a gesture.

39. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein when a new trace is input, said display means displays a new gesture in addition to the displayed gestures.

20. A data processing method comprising the steps of:

inputting a plurality of commands;

storing a history of the plurality of input commands; and

controlling a display device to display a plurality of patterns corresponding to a plurality of commands determined by the history of the plurality of stored commands;

selecting a pattern from the plurality of patterns displayed by the controlling step;

designating an operand object; and

executing a command corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of patterns on the display device for the operand object designated by said designating step.

21. A data processing method according to claim 20, wherein said command history stores latest input N commands in the input order of N commands.

22. A data processing method according to claim 21, wherein N patterns corresponding to the stored N commands are displayed in the order of storing N commands.

23. A data processing method according to claim 20, wherein the command history includes an input occurrence frequency of an input command, and a command whose pattern is to be displayed, is determined in accordance with input occurrence frequencies of a plurality of stored commands.

24. A data processing method according to claim 20, wherein said command input step inputs the command with a digitizer.

25. A data processing method according to claim 20, wherein said command input step inputs the commands with a keyboard.

40. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said display control means controls the display device to display the plurality of patterns together with a plurality of operand object one of which can be designated by said designation means.

41. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein when a new command is input, said display control means controls the display device to display a pattern corresponding to the new command in addition to the displayed patterns.

26. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps, the process steps for data processing using an input device for inputting a trace and a recognizing device for recognizing the input trace as a gesture and converting the gesture into a corresponding command, the process steps comprising:

a retaining step to retain a trace of the gesture input by the input device and a command corresponding to the trace;

a displaying step to display the trace of the gesture retained by said retaining step in a display;

a selecting step to select a desired gesture from a plurality of the gestures displayed by the displaying step;

a designating step to designate an operation object; and

an executing step to execute a command corresponding to the selected gesture for a designated operation object.

27. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein said selecting step selects a plurality of gestures in a sequential and said executing step executes commands for the plurality of selected gestures in the sequential order.

28. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein the input device comprises a digitizer.

29. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein the display comprises a liquid crystal display.

42. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein said displaying step displays the trace of the gesture together with a plurality of operand objects one of which can be designated by designating step.

43. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein said displaying step displays a command instead of a trace of a gesture.

44. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein when a new trace is input, said displaying step displays a new gesture in addition to the displayed gestures.

30. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps for processing data, the process steps comprising:

an inputting step to input a plurality of commands;

a storing step to store a history of the plurality of input commands; and

a controlling step to control a display device to display a plurality of patterns corresponding to a plurality of commands determined by the history of the plurality of stored commands;

a selecting step to select a pattern from the plurality of patterns displayed in the controlling step;

a designating step to designate an operation object; and

an executing step to execute a command corresponding to one of the plurality of patterns, the one pattern being selected on the display device, for the operation object designated by said designating step.

31. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, further comprising the process steps of:

a selecting step to select a desired pattern from the plurality of displayed patterns; and

an executing step to execute a command corresponding to the selected pattern.

32. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, wherein said command history stores latest input N commands in the input order of N commands.

33. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 32, wherein N patterns corresponding to the stored N commands are displayed in the order of storing N commands.

34. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, wherein the command history includes an input occurrence frequency of an input command, and a command whose pattern is to be displayed, is determined in accordance with input occurrence frequencies of a plurality of stored commands.

35. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, wherein said command input step inputs the command with a digitizer.

36. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, wherein said command input step inputs the commands with a keyboard.

45. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, wherein said display controlling step controls the display device to display the plurality of patterns together with a plurality of operand object one of which can be designated by said designating step.

46. A memory medium storing computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, wherein when a new command is input, said display controlling step controls the display device to display a pattern corresponding to the new command in addition to the displayed patterns.