Displaying operations performed by multiple users

• US 9,811,349 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2010
• Issued: 11/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ooba, Osamu
• Primary Examiner(s): Chow, Doon
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LE V
• Application Number:
  US12/885,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20110078573A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,605 Days
• Field of Search: 715755, 715769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/544 Remote
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/545 Gui
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/01 Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer G06F3/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/32 Carrier systems characterised by combinations of two or more of the types covered by groups H04L27/02, H04L27/10, H04L27/18 or H04L27/26
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control

Abstract

Provided is a terminal apparatus including a display unit displaying an execution screen of a shared application, reflecting on a display operations performed by multiple users as operations performed on one application, where the shared application includes a function for displaying an identification object that associates each of the users with an operation result, displayed on the execution screen, reflecting the operation performed by each of the users, a function for setting, when a first user selects an identification object related to a second user and specifies a region on the screen, the specified region as a shared region that is shared by the first and second users, and a function for controlling, when the first or second user performs operation in the shared region, such that the displayed operation result reflecting the operation is not shown to users other than the first and second users.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable recording medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method comprising;

displaying, in a first shared region of a screen that is shared by a plurality of users interacting with a shared application via a plurality of terminal apparatuses connected to a network, at least one first operation result of at least one first operation performed by one or more of the plurality of users interacting with the shared application;

displaying on the screen, for each user of the plurality of users, an identification object related to the user;

in response to a first user selecting an identification object related to a second user and providing input delimiting a first delimited region, that is a portion of the first shared region, to be set as a second shared region that is shared by the first user and the second user, setting the first delimited region as the second shared region that is shared by the first user and the second user; and

in response to the first user or the second user performing a second operation with respect to the second shared region, controlling display of a second operation result reflecting the second operation to the plurality of users such that the operation result is not shown to any user of the plurality of users other than the first user and the second user,

wherein setting the first delimited region as the second shared region in response to the first user selecting the identification object related to the second user and providing input delimiting the first delimited region of the first shared region comprises setting the first delimited region as the second shared region in response to the first user performing a drag-and-drop operation in the first shared region, wherein the drag-and-drop operation comprises;

detecting the first user clicking on the identification object related to the second user to select the identification object related to the second user;

while the identification object related to the second user is selected, detecting the first user dragging the identification object related to the second user to a position in the first shared region, wherein the position in the first shared region forms at least a portion of the boundary of the second shared region; and

releasing the identification object.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

in response to the first user selecting a second identification object related to a third user and providing input delimiting a second delimited region, that is a second portion of the first shared region, to be set as a third shared region that is shared by the first user and the third user, setting the second delimited region as the third shared region that is shared by the first and the third user; and

in response to the first user enlarging or moving the second shared region and/or the third shared region so that the second and the third shared regions overlap, setting an overlapping portion of the second and the third shared regions as a fourth shared region that is shared by the first user, the second user, and the third user.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein displaying a first operation result of the at least one operation result comprises displaying a line connecting the first operation result and the identification object for the user who performed the operation.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:

the shared application is an application for sharing content, and

the method further comprises, in response to content being put in a shared state by the second user, displaying a display object representing the content in the shared state at a display position of the identification object related to the second user, and moving the display object from the display position to another location in the screen.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

when a size of the second shared region is smaller than a size of the display object representing the content in the shared state, moving or deforming the identification object related to the second user, or changing a color of the identification object.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

displaying the identification object for each user comprises displaying the identification object for a user at a predetermined position within the first shared region.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

executing the shared application and producing an execution result; and

displaying the execution result in the first shared region.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein performing the drag-and-drop operation further comprises:

displaying on the screen, while detecting the first user dragging the identification object in the first shared region, a graphical element indicating an area of the first shared region that the first user is delimiting as the second shared region through the drag-and-drop operation.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein displaying the graphical element comprises updating a size and/or shape of the graphical element in accordance with the detecting of the first user dragging the identification object.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein displaying the graphical element comprises displaying a box indicating the area of the first shared region that the first user is delimiting as the second shared region.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting, in response to setting the first delimited region as the second shared region, a sharing request to a terminal apparatus of the plurality of terminal apparatuses associated with the second user.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying on the screen, for the second user, a display object for selecting whether to accept or reject the sharing request.

13. An apparatus for controlling display of results of operations performed by a plurality of users interacting with a shared application, the results being displayed in a first shared region of a screen of the apparatus that is shared by the plurality of users, a plurality of identification objects also being displayed on the screen, each identification object of the plurality of identification objects being related to a user of the plurality of users, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable recording medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method comprising;

in response to a first user selecting an identification object related to a second user and providing input indicating boundaries of a region within the first shared region, setting the region of the first shared region within the indicated boundaries as a second shared region that is shared by the first and the second user; and

in response to detecting that the first user or the second user has performed a second operation with respect to the second shared region, controlling display of an operation result reflecting the second operation to the plurality of users such that the operation result is shown to the first user and the second user in the second shared region and is not shown to users other than the first user and the second user,

wherein setting the region of the first shared region as the second shared region in response to the first user selecting the identification object related to the second user and providing input indicating boundaries of the region within the first shared region comprises setting the region of the first shared region as the second shared region in response to the first user performing a drag-and-drop operation in the first shared region, wherein the drag-and-drop operation comprises;

detecting the first user clicking on the identification object related to the second user to select the identification object related to the second user;

while the identification object related to the second user is selected, detecting the first user dragging the identification object related to the second user to a position in the first shared region, wherein the position in the first shared region forms at least a portion of a boundary of the second shared region; and

releasing the identification object.

14. A display control method for displaying results of operations by a plurality of users interacting with a shared application, the results being displayed in a first shared region of a screen of at least a first apparatus operated by a first user of the plurality of users, a plurality of identification objects also being displayed within the first shared region of the screen, each identification object of the plurality of identification objects being related to a user of the plurality of users, the display control method comprising:

in response to the first user of the plurality of users selecting an identification object related to a second user of the plurality of users and delineating a region within the first shared region, setting the delineated region as a second shared region that is shared by the first user and the second user; and

in response to the first user or the second user performing a second operation in the second shared region, controlling display of an operation result reflecting the second operation to the plurality of users such that the operation result is shown to the first user in the second shared region and is not shown to any user of the plurality of users other than the first user and the second user,

wherein setting the delineated region as the second shared region in response to the first user selecting the identification object related to the second user and delineating the region within the first shared region comprises setting the first delineated region as the second shared region in response to the first user performing a drag-and-drop operation in the first shared region, wherein the drag-and-drop operation comprises;

detecting the first user clicking on the identification object related to the second user to select the identification object related to the second user;

while the identification object related to the second user is selected, detecting the first user dragging the identification object related to the second user to a position in the first shared region, wherein the position in the first shared region forms at least a portion of the boundary of the second shared region; and

releasing the identification object.

15. At least one non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method comprising:

displaying on a screen in a first shared region, at least one result of at least one first operation performed by one or more of a plurality of users interacting with a shared application via a plurality of terminal apparatuses connected to a network;

displaying on the screen an identification object related to each user of the plurality of users;

in response to a first user selecting an identification object related to a second user and demarcating a region on the screen, setting the demarcated region as a second shared region that is shared by the first user and the second user; and

in response to the first user or second user performing a second operation in the second shared region, controlling display of a second operation result reflecting the second operation to the plurality of users such that the operation result is not shown to any user other than the first user and the second user,

wherein setting the demarcated region as the second shared region in response to the first user selecting the identification object related to the second user and providing input demarcating the demarcated region of the first shared region comprises setting the demarcated region as the second shared region in response to the first user performing a drag-and-drop operation in the first shared region, wherein the drag-and-drop operation comprises;

detecting the first user clicking on the identification object related to the second user to select the identification object related to the second user;

while the identification object related to the second user is selected, detecting the first user dragging the identification object related to the second user to a position in the first shared region, wherein the position in the first shared region demarcates at least a portion of the boundary of the second shared region; and

releasing the identification object.