JP2000066803A - Input operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the input operation device which can be improved in usability more than before by changing functions allocated to respective operation elements and displays of function contents according to operation histories of the respective operation elements. SOLUTION: An allocation change part 8 reads a function frequency distribution and a position frequency distribution out of a frequency storage part 9, generates an allocation change signal S2 by determining the area and positions of each icon to be displayed according to the function frequency distribution and position frequency distribution, and supplies it to a control part 5. The control part 5 displays respective icons on a display panel 2 with the areas and at the positions based upon the allocation change signal S2. Namely, the allocation of an icon selected by a user to the display panel 2 is changed according to the selected icon and the respective icons displayed on the display panel 2 can be displayed in an easy-to-operate state for the user. The usability can be improved more than before.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input operation device, and is suitably applied to, for example, an input device for inputting operation information from a display panel having a touch panel function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an input device having a display panel with a touch panel function, a user selects and touches a desired icon from among a plurality of icons displayed on the display panel to touch the icon. The assigned function is instructed to the operation target device. In this input device, the display content can be changed by a user's operation, or a menu in which icons are grouped is displayed in a hierarchical manner,
Operability has been improved.

[0003]

In the input device having such a configuration, the number of icons is increased and the menu hierarchy is becoming deeper as the device to be operated becomes multifunctional. In addition, the operation is complicated due to the progress of miniaturization of the apparatus main body.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to propose an input operation device which can further improve the usability as compared with the related art.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an input operation for selecting a desired one of a plurality of operators and indicating a function assigned to the selected operator. In the device, input means for arranging each operation element, displaying the content of the function on each operation element according to the function assigned to each operation element, storage means for storing an operation history of each operation element, There is provided an assignment changing means for changing a function to be assigned to each of the controls and a display of the function content based on the operation history of each of the controls stored in the storage means.

[0006] By changing the function assigned to each operator and the display of the function content based on the operation history of each operator, each operator can be displayed in a state that is easy for the user to operate.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a remote commander (remote control device) as a whole, which operates a video tape recorder (VTR: Video Tape Recorder) (not shown) to be operated in accordance with a user operation. ing. The remote commander 1 has a display panel 2 with a touch panel function as input means for inputting operation information. As shown in FIG. 2, the display panel 2 displays various icons 3. Specifically, the display panel 2 includes an on / off icon 3A for instructing a VTR power on / off operation, and a video tape for displaying an image. A recording icon 3B for instructing recording, a stop icon 3C for instructing to stop the operation of the VTR, a rewind icon 3D for instructing rewinding of the video tape, a playback icon 3E for instructing video tape playback, and an instruction for fast-forwarding the video tape. Fast-forward icon 3F.

In this state, when the user selects and touches a desired icon 3 among a plurality of icons 3A to 3F displayed on the display panel 2, the display panel 2
A function selection signal S1 of a function corresponding to the selected icon 3
To the control unit 5. The control unit 5 controls the entire remote commander 1 and sends a function selection signal S1 supplied from the display panel 2 to an IR (Infrared Radiation) transmission unit 6. The IR transmitter 6 generates an infrared signal IR1 corresponding to the function selection signal S1, and outputs the infrared signal IR1 to the VTR.
(Not shown). The VTR receives the infrared signal IR1 and performs an operation according to the result of the reception.

FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram in which a desired icon 3 is sequentially selected from a plurality of icons 3A to 3F by a user operation. The user first selects the on / off icon 3A of the remote commander 1 and selects the VT
Turn on the power of R. In this state, the user selects the on / off icon 3 out of the plurality of icons 3A to 3F.
A, there is a possibility that the playback icon 3E, the fast forward icon 3F, the rewind icon 3D, and the recording icon 3B may be selected, but there is no possibility that the stop icon 3C is selected. This is because there is no possibility of selecting the stop icon 3C in this state because the VTR is not operating just by turning on the power of the VTR.

When the reproduction icon 3E is selected, the VTR transitions to the next state. In this state, the user may select the on / off icon 3A, the stop icon 3C, the fast forward icon 3F, and the rewind icon 3D from among the plurality of icons 3A to 3F, while the reproduction icon 3E, There is no possibility to select the recording icon 3B.

As described above, in the remote commander 1, when a desired icon 3 is selected from the plurality of icons 3A to 3F, the range of the icon 3 to be selected next can be limited. FIG. 4 shows such a selection range of the icon 3 and shows a range of the icon 3 which may be selected this time from the icon 3 selected last time.

More specifically, when the user selects the on / off icon 3A last time, this time, the on / off icon 3A, the reproduction icon 3E, the recording icon 3B, the fast forward icon 3F, and the rewind icon 3D are displayed. While there is a possibility of selection, there is no possibility of selecting the stop icon 3C. When the user selects the stop icon 3C last time, this time, the on / off icon 3A, the reproduction icon 3E, the recording icon 3B, the fast forward icon 3
F, there is a possibility of selecting the rewind icon 3D, but there is no possibility of selecting the stop icon 3C.

Hereinafter, similarly, when the user selects the previous reproduction icon 3E, the user may select the on / off icon 3A, the stop icon 3C, the fast forward icon 3F, and the rewind icon 3D this time. When the previous recording icon 3B is selected, this time the stop icon 3C
There is a possibility to choose.

When the user selects the fast forward icon 3F last time, this time, the on / off icon 3A,
There is a possibility that the stop icon 3C, the play icon 3E, and the rewind icon 3D may be selected.
Is selected, this time the on / off icon 3
A, a stop icon 3C, a play icon 3E, and a fast forward icon 3F may be selected.

The state transition data indicating the selection range of the icon 3 is stored in the state transition storage unit 7 in advance, and is read from the state transition storage unit 7 as needed.

The control section 5 sends the function selection signal S1 supplied from the display panel 2 to the IR transmission section 6 and also to the frequency storage section 9 via the allocation change section 8. Thus, the frequency storage unit 9
The combination of the previously selected icon 3 and the currently selected icon 3 is based on the function selection signal S1 sequentially supplied every time the user selects the desired icon 3.
A frequency distribution (hereinafter, referred to as a function frequency distribution) indicating how many times has been performed is created and stored, and the function frequency distribution is updated each time the function selection signal S1 is supplied.

With this operation, when the user performs an operation of selecting the icon 3 a predetermined number of times or more from the start of use, the frequency storage unit 9 generates a function frequency distribution as shown in FIG. In the case of this user, for example, the number of times the previous stop icon 3C was selected and the next time the reproduction icon 3E was selected is four times. Before turning off the power by selecting the ON / OFF icon 3A, the user sets the stop icon 3A.
It can be seen that the user has selected C to stop the VTR (not shown), so that the user can grasp the characteristics of the selection order when selecting the icon 3.

The display screen of the display panel 2 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, while being divided into six in the direction of arrow X in the figure,
It is divided into four in the direction of arrow Y, for a total of 24 divisions. As shown in FIG. 7, the frequency storage unit 9 stores a function selection signal S1 sequentially supplied every time the user selects a desired icon 3.
, A frequency distribution (hereinafter, referred to as a position frequency distribution) indicating which position on the display screen of the display panel 2 has been touched and how many times has been touched is generated. It has been found that this user has touched the position indicated by the XY coordinates (5, 4) eight times so far, indicating that there is a high possibility that the icon 3 located at the position where the XY coordinates are large is likely to be selected. ing.

The allocation changing unit 8 reads out the function frequency distribution and the position frequency distribution from the frequency storage unit 9 and determines the areas and positions of the icons 3A to 3F to be displayed based on the function frequency distribution and the position frequency distribution, respectively. By doing so, an allocation change signal S2 is generated and given to the control unit 5. The control unit 5 displays the icons 3A to 3F on the display panel 2 according to the area and the position based on the assignment change signal S2.

Here, for example, the last on / off icon 3A
The determination of the area of the icons 3A to 3F performed when is selected will be described. In this case, as shown in FIG.
Off icon 3A, playback icon 3E, recording icon 3
B, the fast forward icon 3F, or the rewind icon 3D, and the number of times selected so far is “1,
1, 0, 0, 4 ".

The allocation changing section 8 sorts in the order of the number of times selected so far, that is, the rewind icon 3D,
Off icon 3A, playback icon 3E, recording icon 3
B, fast-forward icon 3F in order of priority F1-
F4 is added, and the respective frequencies f _{1 to} f ₅ are set to “4, _{1, 1,} 0, 0”.

Therefore, the allocation changing unit 8 includes a rewind icon 3D, an on / off icon 3A, a reproduction icon 3E,
The probability p _i that each of the recording icon 3B and the fast-forward icon 3F is selected next is represented by the following equation.

[0024]

(Equation 1)

[0025] Here, Cn is the number of icons that can be selected (5 in this case). Wc is a coefficient (0.5 in this case) for weighting the probability obtained from the number Cn of icons that can be selected and the probability obtained from the function frequency distribution. When this weighting coefficient Wc is increased, it is calculated from the function frequency distribution. The effect of the probability obtained from the number Cn of selectable icons increases as the effect of the probability increases, while the effect of the probability decreases. By the way, when the weighting coefficient Wc is set to 1, the icons 3 which have not been selected so far are deleted from the candidates which can be selected next.

The reassignment unit 8 includes a rewind icon 3D, an on / off icon 3A, a playback icon 3E,
The allocation area S _i allocated to each of the recording icon 3B and the fast-forward icon 3F is represented by the following equation.

[0027]

(Equation 2)

[0028] Here, S _all indicates the total area that can be allocated to the icon 3. By the way,
Since the icon 3 does not necessarily need to be allocated to the entire display screen, a part (for example, 15) of the area 24 of the entire display screen is set as the total area S _all .

Next, determination of the positions of the icons 3A to 3F will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the positions that are most easily touched by the user are those whose XY coordinates are (5, 4) and (6,
4) It can be seen that it is near. As a result, the allocation changing unit 8 sets the rewind icon 3D having the highest priority F1.
XY coordinates are (5, 3), (5, 4), (6, 3),
(6, 4) It is determined to allocate to a nearby position.

Thereafter, the allocation changing unit 8 changes the on / off icon 3A of the second highest priority F2 to 2
The XY coordinates (3, 2), (3,
3) Assign to positions near (4, 2) and (4, 3). At this time, when the temporarily assigned on / off icon 3A overlaps with the previously assigned rewind icon 3D, the assignment changing unit 8 selects the on / off icon 3A from among the unassigned positions. The position where the on / off icon 3A is allocated is corrected by, for example, determining the position where the on / off icon 3A is allocated or changing the area thereof to a smaller size.

In the same manner, the allocation changing unit 8 sequentially sets the remaining reproduction icons 3 in descending order of priority F.
E, the positions where the recording icon 3B and the fast-forward icon 3F are allocated are sequentially determined. As described above, the allocation changing unit 8 sequentially determines the area and the position of the icon 3 to be displayed according to the function frequency distribution and the position frequency distribution stored in the frequency storage unit 9, and as illustrated in FIG. A display panel 2 having a screen as shown is generated. Thereby, it is understood that the rewind icon 3D which is most likely to be selected next has the largest area and is displayed at the position which is most easily touched.

Here, the icon 3 by the assignment changing unit 8
Will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step SP2 entered from step SP1, the allocation changing unit 8 reads the previously selected icon 3 from the frequency storage unit 9. In step SP3, the allocation changing unit 8 reads out the state transition data indicating the selection range of the icon 3 from the state transition storage unit 7, and extracts the next selectable icon 3 candidate from the state transition data.

In step SP4, the allocation changing section 8 determines whether or not the user has performed an operation of selecting the icon 3 a predetermined number of times or more from the start of use.
If the operation of selecting the icon 3 has been performed a predetermined number of times or more, the process proceeds to step SP5. If the operation has not been performed a predetermined number of times or more, the process proceeds to step SP6 and the process ends.

In step SP5, the assignment changing unit 8 assigns a priority order F to the icon 3 which is likely to be selected next, based on the function frequency distribution stored in the frequency storage unit 9. In step SP7, the allocation changing unit 8 sequentially selects, from the candidates of the icon 3 which may be selected next, those having the highest priority.

In step SP9, the assignment changing section 8 determines whether or not the icon 3 candidate remains. As a result, if the icon 3 candidate remains, the process proceeds to step SP9. Step SP
Then, the process proceeds to 6 and the process ends. In step SP8,
The allocation changing unit 8 determines the area and the position of the selected icon 3, and after the determination, proceeds to step SP7.

Next, a procedure for determining the area and position of the icon 3 (step SP9) will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In step SP11 entered from step SP10, the allocation changing unit 8
Displays the icon 3 based on the function frequency distribution on the display panel 2
To determine the area to be displayed. In step SP12, the allocation changing unit 8 determines a position when displaying the icon 3 on the display panel 2 based on the position frequency distribution.

In step SP13, the assignment changing section 8 determines whether or not the icon 3 overlaps the icon 3 already assigned. As a result, when they overlap, the process proceeds to step SP14, and when they do not overlap, the process proceeds to step SP15. In step SP14, the allocation changing unit 8 corrects the allocation position of the icon 3, and returns to step SP13 again to repeat the operation. In step SP15, the allocation changing unit 8
The icon 3 is displayed according to the determined area and position.

In this state, when the user selects a desired one of the icons 3 displayed on the display panel 2, the allocation changing unit 8 adds 1 to the frequency of the selected icon 3 in step SP16. The function frequency distribution is updated, and in step SP17, 1 is added to the frequency of the coordinates of the touched position to update the position frequency distribution. Next, the process moves to step SP18 and ends.

In the above configuration, the remote commander 1
When the desired icon 3 is selected by the user,
Among the icons 3 that can be selected next, the icons 3 that are likely to be selected are sequentially allocated to the display panel 3 in a large area that is easy for the user to touch, and are displayed next. Icon 3
Can be displayed in a state that is easy for the user to select.

According to the above configuration, the display panel 2 of each icon 3 is selected according to the icon 3 selected by the user.
By changing the assignment to the display panel 2
Can be displayed in a state that is easy for the user to operate, and thus usability can be further improved as compared with the related art.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the remote commander 1 of the VTR has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a remote commander of a television (TV) receiver (hereinafter referred to as a remote commander). , This is TV
The present invention can be widely applied to various other remote commanders (referred to as a remote commander).

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the TV remote commander displays a circular 1-channel icon 21A, 3-channel icon 21B, 4-channel icon 21C, 6-channel icon 21D,
The eight-channel icon 21E, the ten-channel icon 21F, and the twelve-channel icon 21G are displayed at equal intervals in the same area.

In this state, when the user selects a channel a predetermined number of times (for example, 100 times), the TV remote commander, as shown in FIG. 12, displays a frequency distribution indicating which channel has been selected and how many times. This is called a channel frequency distribution). In this case, one channel icon 21A, three channel icon 21B, four channel icon 21C, six channel icon 21
The number of times that the D, 8 channel icon 21E, 10 channel icon 21F, and 12 channel icon 21G are selected is “10, 4, 14, 15, 28, 1”.
8, 11 ".

The TV remote commander assigns priorities in descending order of the number of times selected so far, and determines the area and position of each icon 21 in the order of the priorities.
That is, the remote commander of the TV receiver sequentially increases the area of each icon 2 from the icon 21 having the highest priority.
13, and determines a shift vector indicating how much the position touched by the user is shifted from the center P1 of the icon 21 in the area where the icon 21 is displayed, as shown in FIG. By moving the center of the icon 21 to the position P2 indicated by the vector, the position of the entire icon 21 is corrected. The TV remote commander generates a display screen as shown in FIG. 14 by sequentially performing such processing on each icon 21.

The procedure for determining the area and position of the icon 21 will now be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step SP31 entered from step SP30, the TV remote commander determines the area of the icon 21 based on the frequency selected so far. In step SP32, the TV remote commander determines the position of the icon 21 from the calculated shift vector.

In step SP33, the TV remote commander displays the icon 21 whose area and position have been determined,
It is determined whether or not the icon 21 has already been assigned. As a result, in step SP34, if it overlaps with the icon 21 already assigned, the process proceeds to step SP35, and if it does not overlap, the process proceeds to step SP36 to end the process. Step SP35
In, after correcting the area and position of the icon 21, the TV remote commander proceeds to step SP33 and repeats the above operation.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the display panel 2 with a touch panel function has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and, for example, the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to FIG. As shown in FIG.
Operation buttons 32 </ b> A to 32 </ b> A having display means on the operation display unit 31.
32F is formed, only the next selectable operation button 32 is turned on, and the same effect as described above can be obtained even if the remaining operation buttons 32 are invalidated.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where predetermined state transition data is stored in the state transition storage unit 7 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the operation of selecting the icon 3 a predetermined number of times is described. , The contents of the state transition data may be changed as needed based on the frequency function distribution.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the assignment of the icons 3 is changed according to the icon 3 selected last time has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the assignment of the icon 3 may be changed according to the icon 3 selected last time and two times before. In short, the assignment of the icon 3 may be changed based on the operation history of the icon 3 so far.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the function frequency distribution is generated by selecting the icon 3 a predetermined number of times has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
A certain function frequency distribution predetermined by the user may be created and stored in the frequency storage unit 9.

In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the probability P _i that each icon 3 is selected next is obtained by the above-described equation (1). However, the present invention is not limited to this. The probability p _i that each icon 3 is selected next is expressed by the following equation.

[0052]

(Equation 3)

May be obtained by Here Cf _i is,
This is a preset constant, and the degree of influence on the probability p _i decreases with an increase in the frequency of using the remote commander 1.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the VTR is operated by the remote commander 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of display icons may be provided on the display panel 2 by switching the display screen. May be operated.

In the above embodiment, the case where one user operates the remote commander 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the display panel 2 is provided with a switching icon for switching the display screen. Thereby, a plurality of users may use the remote commander.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the remote commander 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the point is that a desired one is selected from a plurality of operators. The present invention can be widely applied to such input operation devices.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, the functions assigned to the respective controls and the display of the function contents are changed based on the operation history of the respective controls, so that the respective controls can be operated by the user. It can be displayed in an easy-to-use state, and thus the usability can be further improved as compared with the related art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a remote commander according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an initial screen of a display panel.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state transition diagram by operation of a remote commander.

FIG. 4 is a chart showing a selection range of icons.

FIG. 5 is a chart showing a frequency distribution of a selected function.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating XY coordinates of a display panel.

FIG. 7 is a chart showing a frequency distribution of a selected position.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a change screen of a display panel.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an assignment change procedure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for determining an area and a position of an icon.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an initial screen of a display panel according to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a chart showing a frequency distribution of a selected channel.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating determination of a shift vector.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a screen for changing a display panel according to another embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for determining an area and a position of an icon according to another embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote commander according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Remote commander 2 Display panel 3 Icon 5 Control part 6 IR transmission part 7 State transition storage part 8 Assignment change part 9 Frequency storage Department.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An input operation device for selecting a desired one of a plurality of operators and instructing a function assigned to the selected operator. Input means for displaying the content of the function on each operation element in accordance with the function assigned to the operation element; storage means for storing the operation history of each operation element; and each of the operations stored in the storage means An input operation device comprising: an assignment changing unit that changes the function to be assigned to each of the operators and the display of the function content based on the operation history of the child. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the operation elements has a variable display mode of the operation element itself, and the assignment changing means changes the display mode based on the operation history. Input operating device as described. 3. The operation history according to claim 1, wherein the operation history includes state transition data indicating a range of the next selectable operator determined according to the previously selected operator. Input operation device. 4. The input operation device according to claim 1, wherein the operation history includes a frequency of use of each of the operators. 5. The input operation device according to claim 2, wherein the display mode of the operator is a size and a position. 6. The input operation device according to claim 2, wherein the display mode of the operation element is a size or a position.