Touch operation position determination device

Abstract

To enable comfortable touch operation for users in touch panel input devices. [Solution] A touch operation position determination device (100) that determines the touch operation position of a touch panel input device (300) that detects the touch operation position on the screen includes a calculation means (120) that performs an averaging process on a plurality of touch operation positions detected during the touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation and calculates an average touch operation position, and a first determination means (120) that determines the touch operation position during the touch operation period based on the calculated average touch operation position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of a touch operation position determination device capable of determining a touch operation position on a screen, for example.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, for example, in various fields such as smartphones, car navigation devices, or tablet computers, a mechanism for inputting information by a touch operation on a screen (simply put, an operation of touching the screen with a finger) has been adopted.

[0003] By the way, in a device adopting such a mechanism, for example, due to reasons such as when the operation target is small or crowded, misjudgment of the touch operation position frequently occurs. Regarding technologies for preventing such misjudgment, for example, there are disclosures in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0004] According to the mobile terminal device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when there are a plurality of selection targets (expressed as links in the document) in the area touched by the user, after they are enlarged and displayed, the user is required to perform a touch operation again. Therefore, it is said that the target selection object can be appropriately and surely specified by touching it with a finger.

[0005] According to the information processing device disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the user moves the touch position while maintaining the touch state at the touch position, a selectable operation target (operation target item in the document) is determined based on the movement destination touch position, and display information indicating the operation target item is displayed on the touch panel display based on the movement destination touch position. Also, when changing from the touch state to the non-touch state, processing based on the operation target item is performed. Therefore, it is said that the user can surely operate the desired operation target by moving the finger until the desired operation target item is selected.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-73908 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-192173 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] In devices that utilize this type of mechanism, multiple touch operations are generally performed in succession.

[0008] Here, the devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 both require multi-step operations by the user to prevent misjudgment of the touch operation position. Therefore, when multiple touch operations are performed in succession, the degree of physical and mental burden on the user tends to increase. In other words, the above-mentioned prior art has at least one technical problem: comfort is easily compromised.

[0009] This invention has been made, for example, in view of such technical problems, and at least one of the problems to be solved is to provide a touch operation position determination device that enables comfortable touch operation for the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the touch operation position determination device is a touch operation position determination device for a touch panel input device that detects touch operation positions on a screen, and comprises a calculation means that performs an averaging process on a plurality of touch operation positions detected during a touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation and calculates an average touch operation position, and a first determination means that determines the touch operation position during the touch operation period based on the calculated average touch operation position.

[0011] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the touch operation position determination method is a touch operation position determination method for a touch panel input device that detects touch operation positions on a screen, comprising: a calculation step of calculating an average touch operation position by performing an averaging process on a plurality of touch operation positions detected during a touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation; and a determination step of determining the touch operation position during the touch operation period based on the calculated average touch operation position.

[0012] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the computer program is characterized by causing the computer system to function as the touch operation position determination device described above.

[0013] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the recording medium is characterized by having the above-mentioned computer program recorded on it. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram of an information processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This diagram illustrates one example of input via a touch panel input device. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the touch operation position determination process in the information processing device. [Figure 4] This is an example of a timing chart for when touch operation position coordinates are stored. [Figure 5] This diagram illustrates the effect of touch operation position detection processing, illustrating one scenario of input via a touch panel input device. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart of the touch operation position determination process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 7] This diagram illustrates the filtering process in the touch operation position determination process shown in Figure 6. [Figure 8] This is a flowchart of the touch operation position determination process according to the third embodiment. [Figure 9]FIG. is a diagram illustrating one display state of the touch panel input device according to the effect of the third embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] <Embodiments of Touch Operation Position Determination Device> An embodiment of the touch operation position determination device according to the present invention is a touch operation position determination device that determines the touch operation position of a touch panel input device that detects a touch operation position on a screen. The device includes a calculation means for performing an averaging process on a plurality of the touch operation positions detected during a touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation to calculate an average touch operation position, and a first determination means for determining the touch operation position during the touch operation period based on the calculated average touch operation position.

[0016] According to an embodiment of the touch operation position determination device, an averaging process is performed on a plurality of touch operation positions detected during a touch operation period related to a single touch operation performed on the touch panel device, and an average touch operation position is calculated. The touch operation position is determined based on the calculated average touch operation position.

[0017] The averaging process is a concept that includes a process of reflecting a plurality of touch operation positions detected during the touch operation period in a processing result (here, the average touch operation position) according to a predetermined criterion. At this time, the weighting between individual touch operation positions may be equal or different. In the former case, the averaging process may be, for example, an arithmetic mean process of these plurality of touch operation positions.

[0018] By performing such averaging processing, the influence of each of the plurality of touch operation positions detected during the touch operation on the determination of the final touch operation position is mitigated. For example, a situation where the touch operation position at the start of the touch operation deviates from the position desired by the user is an event that can frequently occur as a kind of disturbance. However, in a device configuration that does not have the concept of averaging processing, that is, in a device configuration that makes a determination based on the touch operation position detected at a single point on the time axis, the influence of such an unintended misinput by the user cannot be mitigated. According to the present embodiment in which the touch operation positions detected at a plurality of points on the time axis are considered, it has high robustness against such disturbances. Also, usually, since the user performs a touch operation with a clear intention, the user's intention and purpose are clearly reflected in the average touch operation position obtained by performing averaging processing on the plurality of touch operation positions. That is, according to the embodiment of the touch operation position determination device of the present invention, the possibility of the touch operation position being misjudged is greatly reduced by the averaging processing.

[0019] Also, the number of samples (i.e., touch operation positions) used for the averaging processing is free, but if the detection period of the touch operation position is set in consideration of the human operation speed, even for a user with a fast operation speed, the number of samples used for the averaging processing is sufficiently ensured. That is, according to the embodiment of the touch operation position determination device of the present invention, the determination accuracy of the touch operation position does not fluctuate greatly depending on the user's operation speed.

[0020] On the other hand, according to the embodiment of the touch operation position determination device, the touch operation performed by the user to achieve the desired input is not a multi-step operation but a single continuous operation. Therefore, the user can perform a natural operation, and there is less time lag until the touch operation position related to a single touch operation is finally determined. That is, a comfortable operation for the user is realized.

[0021] In one aspect of the embodiment of the touch operation position determination device of the present invention, the calculating means calculates the average touch operation position by performing an additive average of the plurality of touch operation positions.

[0022] This embodiment is preferable because it reduces the computational load on the calculation means.

[0023] In this embodiment, the calculation means may average the touch operation position at the start of the touch operation period and the touch operation position at the end of the touch operation period.

[0024] In this way, the computational load on the calculation method can be further reduced.

[0025] Furthermore, the term "touch operation position corresponding to the end of the touch operation period" includes the touch operation position at the end of the touch operation in the strict sense, as well as the last touch operation position detected by the detection means during a single touch operation period.

[0026] In another embodiment of the touch operation position determination device of the present invention, the device includes a selection means for selecting a plurality of touch operation positions from the plurality of detected touch operation positions to be subjected to the averaging process according to a predetermined criterion, and the calculation means calculates the average touch operation position by performing the averaging process on the plurality of selected touch operation positions.

[0027] According to this embodiment, the selection means can select touch operation positions suitable as samples to be subjected to averaging processing. Therefore, touch operation positions can be determined with higher accuracy.

[0028] For example, a touch operation location suitable for averaging processing may be the point cloud from the middle of an operation, excluding the initial and final stages of the operation, in a sample point cloud obtained by arranging multiple detected touch operation locations in chronological order. At the beginning of a touch operation, the user may touch a location unintended, and at the end of a touch operation, the user may be moving their finger to touch the next location. Both of these can be factors that reduce the accuracy of determining the touch operation location.

[0029] In another embodiment of the touch operation position determination device of the present invention, a second determination means is provided for determining whether a touch operation is valid based on the touch operation position corresponding to the start of the touch operation period, the touch operation position corresponding to the end of the touch operation period, and the calculated average touch operation position.

[0030] In a device configuration where information is input via touch operation, the distribution of multiple touch operation positions relative to the average touch operation position shows little bias over a certain period, although the magnitude may vary. Therefore, the positional relationship between the average touch operation position and the touch operation positions used to calculate it can be used to determine whether a touch operation is valid or invalid.

[0031] According to this embodiment, whether or not a touch operation is valid is determined based on the touch operation position corresponding to the start of the touch operation period, the touch operation position corresponding to the end of the touch operation period, and the calculated average touch operation position. Therefore, users can intentionally disable touch operations, improving comfort.

[0032] Furthermore, "the touch operation position corresponding to the start time" includes, as a typical example, the touch operation position at the start time, and may also include, for example, one or more (e.g., several samples) touch operation positions near the start time. In this case, the touch operation position at the start time is not necessarily included among the multiple touch operation positions near the start time. The same applies to the touch operation position corresponding to the end time.

[0033] In this embodiment, the second determination means may determine whether a touch operation is valid based on a comparison of the distance between the touch operation position corresponding to the start of the touch operation period and the calculated average touch operation position, and the distance between the touch operation position corresponding to the end of the touch operation period and the calculated average touch operation position.

[0034] When disabling touch operation is desired, regardless of when the user decided to disable it during the touch operation period, the distance between the touch operation position at the start of the touch operation period and the average touch operation position is often different from the distance between the touch operation position at the end of the touch operation period and the average touch operation position.

[0035] Therefore, based on these comparison results, it is possible to accurately determine whether touch operations are enabled or disabled.

[0036] <Embodiment of Touch Operation Position Determination Method> An embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for determining the touch operation position of a touch panel input device that detects touch operation positions on a screen, and comprises a calculation step of calculating an average touch operation position by performing an averaging process on a plurality of touch operation positions detected during a touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation, and a determination step of determining the touch operation position during the touch operation period based on the calculated average touch operation position.

[0037] According to the embodiment of the touch operation position determination method, comfortable operation is achieved in the same way as in the embodiment of the touch operation position determination device, by performing each step that achieves the same effect as each means in the embodiment of the touch operation position determination device.

[0038] <Example of a computer program> An embodiment of the computer program of the present invention causes a computer system to function as an embodiment of a touch operation position determination device.

[0039] According to embodiments of the present invention relating to a computer program, the above-described embodiments relating to the touch operation position determination device of the present invention can be realized relatively easily by loading the computer program into a computer system and executing it from a recording medium such as a ROM, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or hard disk, or from a solid-state storage device that can be attached to or detached from a computer system, such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, or by downloading the computer program to a computer system via, for example, a communication means, and then executing it.

[0040] <Recording medium embodiment> An embodiment of the recording medium of the present invention records an embodiment relating to a computer program.

[0041] According to an embodiment of the recording medium of the present invention, by attaching or connecting it to a computer system, or by inserting it into a suitable reader provided with or connected to a computer system, an embodiment of the computer program of the present invention recorded on it can be read and executed by the computer system, and the above-described embodiment of the touch operation position determination device of the present invention can be realized relatively easily.

[0042] These effects and other benefits of the present invention will be revealed by the embodiments described below. [Examples]

[0043] Hereinafter, various embodiments suitable for realizing the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate.

[0044] In the embodiments described below, the touch operation position determination device according to the present invention is provided in the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 can take various forms, such as a portable telephone such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer device, or a car navigation device. These are simply referred to as information processing devices because the touch operation position determination device according to the present invention is a device used to determine the touch operation position of a user via a touch panel input device as an input means, and the specific functional use of the information processing device is irrelevant to its effect. Therefore, in the embodiments, the information processing device 10 is described only as an information processing device having a certain specific function. A certain specific function means, for example, if the information processing device 10 is a portable telephone, it means the functions of a mobile telephone including a call function, a web browser function, an email function, and an imaging function. The same applies to other embodiments.

[0045] <First Example> <Configuration of the example> First, the configuration of the information processing device 10 will be explained with reference to Figure 1. Here, Figure 1 is a block diagram of the information processing device 10.

[0046] In Figure 1, the information processing device 10 comprises a control device 100, a display device 200, and a touch panel input device 300.

[0047] The control device 100 is a control device for the information processing device 10, including a control unit 110, a touch operation position determination unit 120, a display control unit 130, and a function control unit 140, and is an example of a "touch operation position determination device" according to the present invention.

[0048] The control unit 110 is a computer device equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and is configured to comprehensively control the operation of each part of the control device 100.

[0049] The ROM of the control unit 110 stores control programs related to various controls performed by the control unit 110. These control programs include a control program related to the touch operation position determination process, which will be described later. This control program related to the touch operation position determination process is an example of a "computer program" according to the present invention.

[0050] Furthermore, this ROM is an example of a "recording medium" according to the present invention. Since ROM is a non-volatile storage device, in this embodiment the control program for touch operation position determination processing is pre-installed in the control unit 110. However, this control program may also be written to RAM, a hard disk, or other volatile storage device that can be installed in the control device 100. In this case, updating and maintaining the control program for touch operation position determination processing can be performed relatively easily. It is also possible to distribute this control program for touch operation position determination processing over a network, or to distribute a recording medium on which the control program for touch operation position determination processing is recorded.

[0051] The touch operation position determination unit 120 is a control unit that is an example of the "calculation means" and "first determination means" according to the present invention, and is configured to determine the touch operation position of the user via the touch panel input device 300 when the touch operation position determination process is executed.

[0052] The display control unit 130 is a processing device configured to control the display content of the display device 200.

[0053] The function control unit 140 is a processing unit that controls functions of the information processing unit 10 according to their intended use (for example, functions as a portable telephone as described above).

[0054] The display device 300 is a display device equipped with a display screen.

[0055] The touch panel input device 300 is a contact-type input device, an example of the "touch panel input device" according to the present invention, which is constructed on the display screen of the display device 300. It is configured to detect the user's touch operation as an electrical signal and to output a touch operation position signal corresponding to the two-dimensional coordinates of the touch operation position, i.e., the touch operation position coordinate L consisting of x and y coordinates, at a predetermined period. Since the configuration of the touch panel input device 300 is well known, its details are omitted here.

[0056] <Operation of the Example> Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

[0057] <Overview of touch operation position detection process> Figure 2 illustrates one scenario of input via the touch panel input device 300. Specifically, a point on the touch panel input device 300 is touched by the user's finger.

[0058] In a configuration like the touch panel input device 300, where each of the selectable options (in Figure 2, these are, for example, the individual keys of a pseudo-keyboard device) is not physically separated, there is a possibility that the user's touch position may be misdetermined. This tendency is particularly strong when these options are small relative to the fingers and are densely packed together. In this embodiment, this problem related to misdetermining the touch position is solved by a touch position determination process performed by the control unit 110.

[0059] <Details of touch operation position detection process> Next, with reference to Figure 3, the details of the touch operation position determination process will be explained. Here, Figure 3 is a flowchart of the touch operation position determination process. Note that the touch operation position determination process is executed continuously during the operation period of the information processing device 10.

[0060] In Figure 3, it is first determined whether or not a touch operation has been initiated (step S110). If no touch operation has been initiated (step S110: NO), the process enters a waiting state at step S110.

[0061] If a touch operation is initiated (step S110: YES), the touch operation position coordinates L are stored (step S120).

[0062] Here, the touch panel device 300 detects the touch operation position coordinate L at predetermined intervals Tspl and sends a touch operation position signal corresponding to the touch operation position coordinate L to the control device 100. The control device 100 acquires this sent touch operation position signal and obtains the touch operation position coordinate L. This operation is performed, for example, by the control unit 110.

[0063] The touch operation position determination unit 120 temporarily stores the acquired touch operation position coordinates L in chronological order. A buffer or the like provided in the touch operation position determination unit 120 is used to store these touch operation position coordinates.

[0064] Once the latest touch operation position coordinates L at that point are stored, it is determined whether the touch operation has ended or not (step S130). If the touch operation has not ended (step S130: NO), the process returns to step S120, and the touch operation position coordinates L are sequentially stored according to the touch operation position signals sent sequentially from the touch panel input device 300.

[0065] This is shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 is an example of a timing chart for when the touch operation position coordinates are stored.

[0066] In Figure 4, the touch operation position coordinates L are sent to the control device 100 for each detection cycle Tspl. In this embodiment, an identifier is used to identify each of the sent touch operation position coordinates L. That is, in Figure 4, the touch operation position coordinates L are stored in the touch operation position determination unit 120 for a total of n+1 times, starting with the touch operation position coordinates Ls(xs,ys) at the start of the touch operation, followed by L1(x1,y1), L2(x2,y2), ..., Ln(xn,yn).

[0067] When the touch operation is completed (step S130: YES), an averaging process is performed. The averaging process in this embodiment is a process of adding and averaging multiple touch operation position coordinates L that are temporarily stored in the touch operation position determination unit 120. More specifically, in the averaging process, the summation average values ​​of the x coordinates x_ave and y_ave are obtained, and the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave(x_ave, y_ave) is determined. The average touch operation position coordinate L_ave is sent to the control unit 110 as the result of determining the touch operation position during one touch operation period, and the process returns to step S110. The touch operation position determination process is performed in this manner.

[0068] Furthermore, once the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave is output, all touch operation position coordinates temporarily stored in the touch operation position determination unit 120 are discarded in order to determine the next touch operation position.

[0069] Furthermore, when the control unit 110 obtains the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave, it assumes that the option corresponding to this average touch operation position coordinate L_ave has been selected from among the multiple options displayed on the display screen, and instructs the display control unit 130 and the function control unit 140 to perform the processing corresponding to the selected option. For example, if the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave corresponds to the key "G" on the display screen, the display control unit 130 will display the character "G" in the appropriate place on the display screen. Alternatively, if the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave corresponds to a function selection button on the display screen, the function control unit 130 will execute the corresponding function.

[0070] The number of touch operation position coordinates used in the averaging process is primarily determined by the user's operation speed and the touch operation detection period Tspl. For example, if the duration of a single touch operation, i.e., the length of the touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation (i.e., corresponding to the user's operation speed), is set to 1 sec, and the detection period Tspl is set to 50 msec, then approximately 20 touch operation position coordinates can be obtained. <Effects of touch operation position detection processing> Next, the effects of the touch operation position determination process will be explained with reference to Figure 5. Here, Figure 5 illustrates a scene of input (touch operation) via the touch panel input device 300, relating to the effects of the touch operation position determination process.

[0071] In Figure 5, (a) shows the user randomly tracing their finger around the desired target position p (see white circle in the figure) on the touch panel input device 300. The trajectory of this touch operation is shown by a thick solid line.

[0072] If the trajectory of the touch operation is random as shown in Figure 5(a), the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave obtained by the averaging process will generally coincide with the position coordinate of the target position p, since the user's intention was originally to touch the target position p.

[0073] In Figure 5, (b) shows the user tracing a desired target position p (see white circle in the figure) on the touch panel input device 300 with their finger in a circular motion centered on the target position p. The trajectory of this touch operation is shown by a thick solid line.

[0074] When the trajectory of a touch operation traces a circle as shown in Figure 5(b), the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave obtained through the averaging process will roughly coincide with the center of the circle, i.e., the position coordinate of the target position p.

[0075] In Figure 5, (c) shows the user tracing a desired target position p (see white circle in the figure) on the touch panel input device 300 with their finger in a straight line passing through the target position p. The trajectory of this touch operation is shown as a thick solid line.

[0076] When the trajectory of a touch operation traces a straight line as shown in Figure 5(c), the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave obtained through the averaging process will roughly coincide with the center of the straight line, i.e., the position coordinate of the target position p.

[0077] Thus, according to the touch operation position determination process of this embodiment, the touch operation position related to the user's touch operation is determined based on multiple touch operation position coordinates detected during the touch operation period. In other words, the touch operation position is not determined by only one point on the time axis. Therefore, the possibility of misdetermining the touch operation position can be significantly reduced. Assuming that the user originally desires to touch the target position, while it is difficult to accurately touch the target position, it is natural that the user's touch operations will concentrate in the vicinity of the target position. Therefore, with a certain number of samples, it is possible to estimate the position desired by the user.

[0078] Furthermore, according to the touch operation position determination process of this embodiment, the actions required from the user are simply a seamless series of touch operations. In other words, multi-stage operations such as re-touching after zooming in or selecting from options displayed in a pop-up are not required at all. Therefore, the likelihood of the user feeling uncomfortable is low, and time loss is also minimized. In short, according to the touch operation position determination process of this embodiment, it is possible to improve user comfort when inputting information through touch operations.

[0079] Furthermore, in the case of the touch operation shown in Figure 5(c), in order to make the average touch operation position L_ave match the position coordinates of the target position p, strictly speaking, the distance between the starting position of the line passing through the target position p and the target position p must be equal to the distance between the ending position of the line passing through the target position p and the target position p. In other words, the touch operation must be performed so that the target position p is located at the center of the line. In this respect, the burden on the user increases slightly compared to the cases in Figures 5(a) and 5(b).

[0080] On the other hand, if it is known in advance that the target position p is located at the center of the line, then the touch operation position coordinates required for the averaging process only need to be the coordinates at the start and end of the touch operation. Referring to Figure 4, the averaging process is performed by referring only to the touch operation position coordinates Ls and Ln. That is, in the average touch operation position coordinates L_ave(x_ave, y_ave), x_ave = (xs + xn) / 2 and y_ave = (ys + yn) / 2.

[0081] Therefore, in this case, the processing load of the touch operation position determination unit 120 is reduced, at the cost of a slight increase in the user's burden. <Second Example> Next, with reference to Figure 6, the touch operation position determination process according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, Figure 6 is a flowchart of the touch operation position determination process according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the same reference numerals are used for parts that overlap with those in Figure 3, and their explanations are omitted as appropriate.

[0082] In Figure 6, once the touch operation is completed (step S130: YES), the filtering process is executed (step S131).

[0083] The filtering process involves selecting touch operation position coordinates suitable for averaging from among a plurality of stored touch operation position coordinates, or excluding touch operation position coordinates unsuitable for averaging. In other words, in the second embodiment, the touch operation position determination unit 120 further functions as an example of the "selection means" according to the present invention.

[0084] Now, let's refer to Figure 7 and explain the filtering process. Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating the filtering process.

[0085] The left side of Figure 7 shows the touch operation position coordinates obtained during a single touch operation period in chronological order. Here, these multiple touch operation position coordinates are divided into three groups: the first group G1, the second group G2, and the third group G3. The first group G1 consists of p points from the touch operation position coordinate Ls at the start of the touch operation to the touch operation position coordinate Lp-1 (where p is a natural number). The second group G2 consists of (qp) points from the touch operation position coordinate Lp to the touch operation position coordinate Lq (q>p). The third group G3 consists of (nq) points from the touch operation position coordinate Lq+1 to the touch operation position coordinate Ln at the end of the touch operation. Qualitatively, the first group G1 is the point group at the beginning of the touch operation, the second group G2 is the point group at the middle of the touch operation, and the third group G3 is the point group at the end of the touch operation. Note that p and q can be set arbitrarily.

[0086] The right side of Figure 7 shows the touch operation position coordinates after filtering. The hatched touch operation position coordinates represent the coordinates that have been removed by filtering. Specifically, Figure 7 shows the case where 50% of the touch operation position coordinates belonging to the first group G1 and the third group G3 have been removed as part of the filtering process. As shown in the figure, the removal of coordinates is performed alternately so that neither of the adjacent coordinates is removed.

[0087] When this type of filtering is performed, the influence of the second group G2 on the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave obtained in the averaging process becomes stronger compared to the first group G1 and the third group G3. In other words, the touch operation positions belonging to the first group G1 and the third group G3 are less likely to be reflected in the average touch operation position coordinate L_ave. That is, this type of filtering is an example of a process that assigns weights to individual touch operation position coordinates.

[0088] According to the touch operation position determination process of the second embodiment, the filtering process makes it less likely that the touch operation position coordinates at the beginning and end of the touch operation, when the touch operation position tends to deviate from the target position p, will be reflected. Therefore, the touch operation position can be determined with higher accuracy.

[0089] To elaborate, according to the touch operation position determination process of the second embodiment, compared to the first embodiment, users can perform touch operations without being aware of the start or end positions of the touch operation. Therefore, the psychological burden on the user can be reduced.

[0090] In this embodiment, the touch operation position coordinates related to a single touch operation detected by the touch panel input device 300 are divided into three parts. However, this is just one example, and there are many possible practical forms of filtering. For example, the filtering process may involve deleting a predetermined number of touch operation position coordinates from the start of the touch operation and a predetermined number of touch operation position coordinates working backward from the end of the touch operation. Alternatively, the filtering process may involve further dividing the touch operation position coordinates and gradually changing the rate at which the coordinates are thinned out. <Third Example> In the first and second embodiments, when a touch operation is performed, the average touch operation position coordinates are always ultimately determined as the touch operation position. However, in practice, there are cases where it is desirable to invalidate a touch operation, such as when a user performs a touch operation by mistake. In such cases, if the average touch operation position is determined as the touch operation position, the result will not be in line with the user's intention, no matter how accurately the touch operation position is determined, because the original input was a mistake. In other words, this situation also constitutes a misjudgment of a touch operation in a broad sense.

[0091] In the third embodiment, with reference to Figure 8, a touch operation position determination process for addressing such problems will be described. Here, Figure 8 is a flowchart of the touch operation position determination process according to the third embodiment. In this figure, the same reference numerals are used for parts that overlap with Figure 3, and their explanations are omitted as appropriate.

[0092] In Figure 8, when the averaging process is performed (step S140), the positional deviation of the touch operation location is calculated (step S141). The positional deviation of the touch operation location consists of the starting point positional deviation Lds and the ending point positional deviation Lde.

[0093] The starting position deviation Lds is the distance between the touch operation position at the start of the touch operation (i.e., the touch operation position corresponding to the touch operation position coordinate Ls) and the average touch operation position L_ave. The starting position deviation Lds can be calculated using well-known geometric calculations.

[0094] The endpoint position deviation Lde is the distance between the touch operation position at the end of the touch operation (i.e., the touch operation position corresponding to the touch operation position coordinate Ln) and the average touch operation position L_ave. The endpoint position deviation Lde can be calculated using well-known geometric calculations.

[0095] Once the positional deviation is calculated, a judgment index value a is calculated to determine whether or not the touch operation is valid (step S142). In this embodiment, the judgment index value a is defined as Lde / Lds.

[0096] Once the judgment index value a is calculated, it is determined whether or not this calculated judgment index value a is greater than the reference value a1 (step S143).

[0097] If the judgment index value a is less than or equal to the reference value a1 (step S143: NO), the touch operation during this touch operation period is determined to be valid, and the average touch operation position L_ave obtained in step S140 is output as the final touch operation position (step S150). That is, in the third embodiment, the touch operation position determination unit 120 functions as an example of the "second determination means" according to the present invention.

[0098] On the other hand, if the judgment index value a is greater than the reference value a1 (step S143: YES), the touch operation during this touch operation period is determined to be invalid, and the average touch operation position L_ave obtained in step S140 is discarded (step S144). Once the invalidity of the touch operation is determined, the process returns to step S110. The touch operation position determination process according to the third embodiment is performed in this manner.

[0099] The effects of the third embodiment will now be explained with reference to Figure 9. Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating one display state of the touch panel input device 300.

[0100] In Figure 9, the touch position at the start of the touch operation is the start point s, the touch position at the end of the touch operation is the end point e, and the average touch position corresponding to the average touch position coordinates obtained by the averaging process is the average point ave. The average point ave is shifted towards the start point s, which means that the touch position changed significantly to the end point e just before the end of the touch operation (in other words, the touch position changed significantly before the touch operation ended). Step S143 in Figure 8 branches to "YES" when such an operation occurs. That is, the touch operation is invalid.

[0101] Here, a user's touch operation that may take a trajectory as illustrated in Figure 5, for example, will concentrate near the desired location if the user is performing the touch operation with the intention of touching that desired location. Therefore, by defining a reference value a1 for the judgment index value a so that a touch operation like the one illustrated in Figure 9 is judged as an invalid operation, a user can intentionally invalidate a touch operation without affecting the accuracy of determining the normal touch operation location. For example, the reference value a1 may be a value of around "2".

[0102] Furthermore, it is uncertain at what point after the start of touch operation the user will want to disable touch operation. Also, unless the user intentionally and rapidly moves the endpoint with the intention of disabling touch operation, the average score ave may shift towards the endpoint e from the illustrated position, potentially causing the disabling condition to no longer be met. In light of this, the determination of whether to disable touch operation may be made by replacing or adding to the conditions exemplified in step S143 of Figure 8, simply by confirming that the endpoint position deviation Lde is greater than or equal to a predetermined value and / or that the distance between the start point s and the endpoint e is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

[0103] In any case, the disabling determination function according to the third embodiment allows the user to intentionally disable touch operations. Therefore, a more comfortable operation of the touch panel input device 300 is ensured.

[0104] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified as appropriate without contradicting the gist or idea of ​​the invention as can be read from the claims and the specification as a whole. Touch operation position determination devices with such modifications are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0105] 10...Information processing device, 100...Control device, 110...Control unit, 120...Touch operation position determination unit, 200...Display device, 300...Touch panel input device.

Claims

1. A touch operation position determination device for a touch panel input device that detects the touch operation position on the screen, A calculation means that performs an averaging process on multiple touch operation locations detected during the touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation, and calculates the average touch operation location. A first determination means for determining the touch operation position during the touch operation period based on the average touch operation position calculated above, A second determination means for determining whether a touch operation is valid based on the touch operation position corresponding to the start of the touch operation period, the touch operation position corresponding to the end of the touch operation period, and the calculated average touch operation position. A touch operation position determination device equipped with the following features.

2. The second determination means determines whether a touch operation is valid based on a comparison between the distance between the touch operation position corresponding to the start of the touch operation period and the calculated average touch operation position, and the distance between the touch operation position corresponding to the end of the touch operation period and the calculated average touch operation position. The touch operation position determination device according to feature 1.

3. A method for determining the touch operation position of a touch panel input device that detects the touch operation position on the screen, A calculation step involves performing an averaging process on multiple touch operation locations detected during the touch operation period from the start to the end of the touch operation, and calculating the average touch operation location. A first determination step of determining the touch operation position during the touch operation period based on the average touch operation position calculated above, A second determination step of determining whether a touch operation is valid based on the touch operation position corresponding to the start of the touch operation period, the touch operation position corresponding to the end of the touch operation period, and the calculated average touch operation position. A method for determining the position of a touch operation, comprising the following features.

4. A computer program characterized by causing a computer system to function as a touch operation position determination device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. A storage medium characterized by having the computer program described in claim 4 recorded on it.

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