Information processing device, selection area specification method, and program

Abstract

To reduce an arithmetic processing load in specifying a selection area instructed by a user from among a plurality of adjacent selection areas.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a display control unit 21 for displaying a plurality of adjacent selection areas in a display unit, a frame setting unit 22 for setting each virtual frame including each selection area about each selection area, a determination unit 23 for determining whether an indication point by an input unit or an indication body belongs to a plurality of frame overlapping areas, and an area specification unit 24 for specifying any one selection area from among the plurality of selection areas each corresponding to the plurality of frames constituting the overlapping areas on the basis of movement of the indication point when the indication point belongs to the plurality of frame overlapping areas.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, a selected area specifying method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, input techniques using a GUI (Graphical User Interface) have become widespread in various fields for the purpose of improving user experience (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2005-277773 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When GUI selection areas are arranged at a distance from each other, it is relatively easy to determine which area (e.g., a GUI button) the user is operating. However, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when multiple selection areas BT1 to BT3 are adjacent to each other, particularly when the selection areas are not rectangular or circular but polygonal or complex in shape, a complex algorithm is required to identify the selection area indicated by the user. For example, in the past, the selection area indicated by the user was identified using inside / outside judgment such as common number judgment, which resulted in a problem of a large processing load.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an information processing device, a selection area identification method, and a program that can reduce the computational burden when identifying a selection area designated by a user from among multiple adjacent selection areas. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an information processing device comprising: a display control means for displaying a plurality of adjacent selection areas on a display means; a frame setting means for setting, for each of the selection areas, a virtual frame that encompasses the selection area; a determination means for determining whether a point indicated by an input means or a pointer belongs to an overlapping area of ​​the plurality of frames; and, if the pointing point belongs to an overlapping area of ​​the plurality of frames, an area identification means for identifying, based on movement of the pointing point, one of a plurality of selection areas that correspond to each of the plurality of frames that constitute the overlapping area.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a selection area identification method executed by a computer, comprising: a display control step of displaying a plurality of adjacent selection areas on a display means; a frame setting step of setting, for each of the selection areas, a virtual frame that encompasses the selection area; a determination step of determining whether a point indicated by an input means or a pointer belongs to an overlapping area of ​​the plurality of frames; and, if the pointing point belongs to an overlapping area of ​​the plurality of frames, an area identification step of identifying, based on movement of the pointing point, one of a plurality of selection areas that correspond to each of the plurality of frames that constitute the overlapping area.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute the above-described selected area specifying method. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the computational load when identifying a selection area designated by a user from among a plurality of adjacent selection areas. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic external view of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3]FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of functions provided in an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of adjacent selection regions. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of frames corresponding to each selection region shown in FIG. 4. [Figure 6] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a selected area specification process according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a determination step and an area specification step according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a determination step and an area specification step according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a determination step and an area specification step according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a determination step and an area specification step according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 10A to 10C are diagrams for specifically explaining a determination step and a region specification step according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] An information processing device, a selected area specifying method, and a program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Examples of the information processing device include a notebook PC, a desktop PC, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, etc. For convenience of explanation, a notebook PC will be exemplified as the information processing device 1 below.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a schematic external view of an information processing device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the information processing device 1 includes, as an example, a main body housing 2 and a display housing 3, both of which are substantially rectangular parallelepipeds. The main body housing 2 and the display housing 3 can be opened and closed by, for example, a plurality of connecting members. The main body housing 2 includes an input unit 4. The input unit 4 is a user interface that allows a user to perform input operations. Examples of the input unit 4 include a keyboard, a touchpad, and a pointing device. Examples of the pointing device include a mouse, a trackpad, and a trackball.

[0013] The display side housing 3 includes a display unit 5 that displays an image. Examples of the display unit 5 include a touch panel display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electroluminescence) display.

[0014] Next, the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the information processing device 1 includes, in addition to the above-mentioned input unit 4 and display unit 5, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit: processor) 11, a main memory 12, a secondary storage 13, an external interface 14, and a communication interface 15. These units are connected to each other directly or indirectly via a bus 18, and cooperate with each other to execute various processes.

[0015] The CPU 11 controls the entire information processing device 1 by, for example, an OS (Operating System) stored in a secondary storage device 13 connected via a bus 18, and executes various processes by executing various programs stored in the secondary storage device 13. One or more CPUs 11 may be provided, and they may cooperate with each other to realize processes.

[0016] The main memory device 12 is composed of writable memory such as a cache memory or a RAM (Random Access Memory), and is used as a working area for reading out programs executed by the CPU 11 and writing data processed by the programs.

[0017] The secondary storage device 13 is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The secondary storage device 13 is, for example, a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Examples of the secondary storage device 13 include a ROM (Read Only Memory), a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and a SSD (Solid State Drive) flash memory. The secondary storage device 13 stores, for example, an OS for controlling the entire information processing device such as Windows (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), Android (registered trademark), a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System), various device drivers for operating peripheral devices in hardware, various application software, and various data and files. In addition, the secondary storage device 13 stores programs for implementing various processes and various data required for implementing various processes. A plurality of secondary storage devices 13 may be provided, and the above-mentioned programs and data may be divided and stored in each secondary storage device 13.

[0018] The external interface 14 is an interface for connecting to an external device. Examples of the external device include an external monitor, a USB memory, an external HDD, an external camera, etc. Although only one external interface is illustrated in the example shown in FIG. 2, multiple external interfaces may be provided.

[0019] The communication interface 15 functions as an interface for connecting to a network to communicate with other devices and transmitting and receiving information. For example, the communication interface 15 communicates with other devices by wire or wirelessly. Examples of wireless communication include communication through lines such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi, mobile communication systems (3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, LTE, etc.), and wireless LAN. An example of wired communication includes communication through lines such as a wired LAN (Local Area Network).

[0020] Fig. 3 is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of functions included in the information processing device 1. As shown in Fig. 3, the information processing device 1 includes a selection area identification system 20. The selection area identification system 20 includes, for example, a display control unit 21, a frame setting unit 22, a determination unit 23, and an area identification unit 24.

[0021] A series of processes for realizing various functions of the selected area identification system 20 is stored in the secondary storage device 13 or the like in the form of a program, for example, and the CPU (processor) 11 reads this program into the main storage device 12 and executes information processing and arithmetic processing to realize various functions. Note that the program may be pre-installed in the secondary storage device 13, provided in a state stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, or distributed via wired or wireless communication means. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and semiconductor memories.

[0022] The display control unit 21 controls the display of the display unit 5. For example, the display control unit 21 displays a plurality of adjacent selection areas on the display unit 5. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 4, the display control unit 21 will be described by way of example in which it displays a selection area BT1 for selecting the Tohoku region, a selection area BT2 for selecting the Kanto region, and a selection area BT3 for selecting the Chubu region on a map of Japan. These selection areas BT1 to BT3 are adjacent to one another.

[0023] The frame setting unit 22 sets virtual frames A1 to A3 that encompass each of the selection regions BT1 to BT3, for example, as shown in Fig. 5. For example, the frames A1 to A3 are rectangles that encompass the corresponding selection regions BT1 to BT3 and have the smallest area. Furthermore, the frame setting unit 22 sets one feature point P1 to P3 for each of the selected regions BT1 to BT3. In this embodiment, the center of gravity of each of the selected regions BT1 to BT3 is set as the feature point P1 to P3.

[0024] For example, information on frames A1 to A3 corresponding to each of the selection regions BT1 to BT3 and information on feature points P1 to P3 of each of the selection regions BT1 to BT3 are pre-registered in a predetermined memory area provided in the frame setting unit 22, and are set by reading out the registered frame information. In this embodiment, the center of gravity of the selected area is used as the feature point, but this is not limited to this. For example, the feature point may be the center point of the frames A1 to A3. In addition, when the selected areas BT1 to BT3 are set on a map, the capital city, the prefectural capital, or a landmark may be set as the feature point.

[0025] The determination unit 23 determines whether a point PT indicated by the input unit 4 or the pointer is within a frame, and whether the pointer belongs to an overlapping region of a plurality of frames. For example, the designated point PT is a coordinate indicated by a mouse cursor displayed on the display screen of the display unit 5 when the user operates the input unit 4 such as a pointing device (e.g., a mouse) or a cursor. The designated point PT is also a coordinate indicated by a pointer such as a finger or a pen-type input device on a touch panel display. FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which the designated point PT belongs to an overlapping area of ​​three frames A1, A2, and A3.

[0026] When the indication point PT belongs to an overlapping area of ​​multiple frames, the area identification unit 24 identifies, based on the movement of the indication point PT, one of multiple selection areas corresponding to each of the multiple frames that make up the overlapping area. Furthermore, the region specifying unit 24 may specify the selected region based on the movement of the designated point PT and the distance between the designated point PT and the characteristic points P1 to P3.

[0027] Specifically, when the judgment unit 23 judges in the previous judgment that the indication point PT belongs to one of the frames and judges in the current judgment that the indication point belongs to an overlapping area of ​​multiple frames, the area identification unit 24 identifies a selection area other than the previously identified selection area and in which the distance between the indication point PT and the feature point is the shortest.

[0028] In other words, if the designated point PT was determined to belong to one of the frames in the previous determination, and if the designated point is determined to belong to an overlapping area of ​​multiple frames in the current determination, it can be assumed that the user intentionally moved the designated point PT to another selection area. Therefore, in such a case, the previously identified selection area is excluded, and one of the other selection areas is identified.

[0029] Furthermore, when the determination unit 23 determines that the designated point PT belongs to an overlapping area of ​​multiple frames in both the previous and current determinations, the area specifying unit 24 determines whether the amount of movement of the designated point PT since the previous determination is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. If the amount of movement is less than the predetermined distance, the area specifying unit 24 specifies the same selected area as the previous time, and if the amount of movement is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance, the area specifying unit 24 specifies the selected area whose distance to the feature point has decreased and is the shortest.

[0030] Next, a selection area identification process (selection area identification method) executed by the information processing device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the selection area identification process according to one embodiment of the present invention. Note that the selection area identification process is started when a specific application is launched, and is repeatedly executed until the application is terminated.

[0031] First, a plurality of adjacent selection regions BT1 to BT3 are displayed on the display screen of the display unit 5 (S1: display control step). Next, for each of the selection regions BT1 to BT3, a virtual frame A1 to A3 encompassing each selection region is set (S2: frame setting step). Next, the positional relationship between the pointing point PT by the input unit 4 or the pointer and the frames A1 to A3 is determined (S3: determination step), and the selection region is specified based on the determination result of the determination step (S4: region specification step). The determination step and the region specification step will be described in detail later.

[0032] Next, the processing procedures of the above-mentioned determination step (S3) and area specification step (S4) will be described with reference to Fig. 7 to Fig. 10. Fig. 7 to Fig. 10 are flowcharts showing an example of the processing procedures of the determination step and area specification step according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] First, it is determined whether or not a designated point was present within any of the frames in the previous determination (SA1 in FIG. 7). As a result, if the designated point was not present within the frame in the previous determination (SA1: NO), it is determined whether or not a designated point is present within the frame this time (SA2). As a result, if the designated point was not present within the frame (SA2: NO), it is determined that there is no selected region (SA3), the current position of the designated point is stored (SA7), and the process ends. On the other hand, if the designated point was present within the frame this time (SA2: YES), it is determined whether or not the designated point is present (belongs to) an overlapping region of a plurality of frames (SA4). As a result, if the designated point is not present within the overlapping region (SA4: NO), the frame to which the designated point belongs is identified as the selected region (SA5), the position of the designated point is stored (SA7), and the process ends. On the other hand, if the designated point is present within the overlapping region (SA4: YES), the selected region of the feature point closest to the designated point is identified (SA6), the position of the designated point is stored (SA7), and the process ends.

[0034] Furthermore, in step SA1, if it is determined that the designated point was present within a frame during the previous determination (SA1: YES), it is determined whether or not the designated point was present in an overlapping region of multiple frames during the previous determination (SA8 in FIG. 8). As a result, if the designated point was not present in the overlapping region (SA8: NO), it is determined whether or not the designated point is present within the frame this time (SA9). As a result, if the designated point is not present within the frame (SA9: NO), it is determined that there is no selected region (SA10), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG. 7. On the other hand, if the designated point was present within the frame this time (SA9: YES), it is determined whether or not the designated point is present in an overlapping region of multiple frames (SA11). As a result, if the designated point is not present in the overlapping region (SA11: NO), the selected region to which the designated point belongs is identified (SA12), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG. 7. On the other hand, if the designated point is in the overlapping region (SA11: YES), a selected region of the feature point closest to the designated point that is other than the previously identified selected region is identified (SA13), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG.

[0035] Furthermore, in step SA8, if it is determined that the designated point was in an overlapping area of ​​a plurality of frames in the previous determination (SA8: YES), it is determined whether or not the designated point is in the frame this time (SA15 in FIG. 9). As a result, if the designated point is not in the frame (SA15: NO), it is determined that there is no selected area (SA16), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG. 7. On the other hand, if the designated point is in the frame this time (SA15: YES), it is determined whether or not the designated point is in an overlapping area of ​​a plurality of frames (SA17). As a result, if the designated point is not in the overlapping area (SA17: NO), the selected area to which the designated point belongs is identified (SA18), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG. On the other hand, if the designated point is in the overlapping area (SA17: YES), the amount of movement of the designated point is calculated using the position of the designated point stored in the previous determination, and it is determined whether or not the amount of movement is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance (SA19). As a result, if the amount of movement is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance (SA19: YES), the distance to the feature point decreases, and the selected area having the shortest distance to the feature point is identified (SA20), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG. 7.

[0036] On the other hand, in step SA19, if the amount of movement is less than the predetermined distance (SA19: NO), it is determined whether or not the designated point is in the same frame as in the previous determination (SA21 in FIG. 10). As a result, if the designated point is in the same frame as in the previous determination (SA21: YES), the same selected area as in the previous determination is identified (SA22), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG. 7. On the other hand, if the designated point is not in the same frame as in the previous determination (SA21: NO), the selected area of ​​the feature point that is in the direction of movement of the designated point from the position of the designated point stored in the previous determination and the current position of the designated point and is closest to the designated point is identified (SA23), and the process proceeds to step SA7 in FIG.

[0037] Next, the above-mentioned determination process and frame identification process will be specifically described with reference to Fig. 11. For example, consider a case where a user operates a mouse (input means) to move a mouse cursor from a designated point PT1 to PT2 and further to PT3. Also assume that the movement distance from PT2 to PT3 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance.

[0038] First, for the designated point PT1, since there is no judgment prior to the designated point PT1, the judgment is "NO" in step SA1 in Fig. 7, and then, since the designated point PT1 is within the frame A1 in step SA2, the judgment is "YES". Next, since the designated point PT1 is not in the overlapping region, the judgment is "NO" in step SA4, and the selection region BT1 of the frame A1 to which the designated point PT1 belongs is specified in step SA5. Next, in step SA7, the position of the designated point PT1 is recorded, and the process ends.

[0039] Next, in the determination process for the designated point PT2, since the designated point PT1 was within the frame A1 at the time of the previous determination, the result is "YES". Next, in step SA8 of FIG. 8, since the designated point PT1 was not in the overlapping region at the time of the previous determination, the result is "NO". Next, in step SA9, since the designated point PT2 is within the frames A1, A2, and A3, the result is "YES". Furthermore, in step SA11, since the designated point PT2 is in the overlapping region, the result is "YES". Next, in step SA13, the frame A2 of the feature point P2 that is closest to the designated point PT2 outside the previously specified selection region is specified as the selection region. Next, in step SA7, the position of the designated point PT2 is recorded, and the process ends.

[0040] Next, in the determination process for the designated point PT3, since the designated point PT2 was within the frames A1, A2, and A3 at the time of the previous determination, the result is "YES". Next, in step SA8 of FIG. 8, since the designated point PT2 was within the overlapping region of the frames A1 to A3 at the time of the previous determination, the result is "YES", and in step SA15 of FIG. 9, since the designated point PT3 is within the frames A2 and A3, the result is "YES", and further, in step SA17, since the designated point PT3 is within the overlapping region, the result is "YES". Next, in step SA19, since the amount of movement from the previous designated point PT2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the result is "YES", and the distance to the feature point is reduced, and the selected region BT3 of the feature point P3 with the shortest distance is specified. Next, in step SA7, the position of the designated point PT3 is recorded, and the process ends.

[0041] According to the above process, the designated point PT1 specifies the selected region BT1, the designated point PT2 specifies the selected region BT2, and the designated point PT3 specifies the selected region BT3.

[0042] As described above, the information processing device, selection area identification method, and program of this embodiment include a display control unit 21 that displays multiple adjacent selection areas BT1 to BT3 on the display unit 5, a frame setting unit 22 that sets virtual frames A1 to A3 that encompass each of the selection areas BT1 to BT3 for each of the selection areas BT1 to BT3, a determination unit 23 that determines whether or not an indication point PT by the input unit 4 or the indicator belongs to an overlapping area of ​​the multiple frames, and an area identification unit 24 that, when the indication point PT belongs to an overlapping area of ​​the multiple frames, identifies one of the multiple selection areas that respectively correspond to the multiple frames that make up the overlapping area based on the movement of the indication point PT.

[0043] This makes it possible to specify a selected area by a simple determination process without using a complicated algorithm such as a common difference number determination as in the past, thereby reducing the computational burden when specifying a selected area designated by a user from among multiple adjacent selected areas.

[0044] The present invention has been described above using the above embodiment, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. Various modifications or improvements can be made to the above embodiment without departing from the gist of the invention, and the forms with such modifications or improvements are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, the above embodiments may be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, the processing procedure according to the above embodiment is also one example, and unnecessary processing steps may be deleted, new processing steps may be added, or processing steps may be rearranged within the scope of the present invention.

[0045] For example, in the above embodiment, a two-dimensional selection area such as a map is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the selection area may be three-dimensional, in which case a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped may be set as the frame. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1: Information processing equipment 2: Main unit housing 3: Display side housing 4: Input section 5: Display section 11: CPU 12: Main memory 13:Secondary storage device 14: External interface 15: Communication interface 18: Bus 20: Selection area identification system 21: Display control section 22: Frame setting section 23: Judgment section 24: Area identification part

Claims

1. A display control means for displaying a plurality of adjacent selection regions on a display means; a frame setting means for setting a virtual frame that includes each of the selected regions; a determination means for determining whether or not a point indicated by the input means or the indicator belongs to an overlapping area of ​​a plurality of frames; an area specifying means for specifying, when the designated point belongs to an overlapping area of ​​a plurality of frames, any one of a plurality of selected areas corresponding to the plurality of frames constituting the overlapping area, based on a movement of the designated point; An information processing device comprising:

2. the frame setting means sets one feature point for each of the selected regions; The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the area specifying means specifies the selected area based on a movement of the designated point and a distance between the characteristic point and the designated point.

3. 3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the area identification means, when the determination means determines that the designated point belongs to one of the frames in the previous determination and when the determination means determines that the designated point belongs to an overlapping area of ​​multiple frames in the current determination, identifies a selection area other than the selection area previously identified and in which the distance between the designated point and the feature point is the shortest.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the area identification means, when it is determined by the determination means that the designated point belongs to an overlapping area of ​​multiple frames in the previous determination and the current determination, determines whether the amount of movement of the designated point since the previous determination is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, and identifies the same selected area as the previous time if the amount of movement is less than the predetermined distance.

5. 3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the area identification means, when it is determined by the determination means in the previous and current determinations that the designated point belongs to an overlapping area of ​​multiple frames, determines whether the amount of movement of the designated point since the previous determination is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, and, when the amount of movement is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, identifies a selected area in which the distance to the feature point has decreased and is the shortest.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the frame setting means sets a center of the frame or a center of gravity of a selected area included in the frame as the feature point.

7. the selected regions are regions on a map; The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the frame setting means sets a capital city, a prefectural capital, or a landmark as the feature point.

8. a display control step of displaying a plurality of adjacent selection regions on a display means; a frame setting step of setting a virtual frame that includes each of the selected regions; a determination step of determining whether or not a point indicated by the input means or the indicator belongs to an overlapping area of ​​a plurality of frames; a region specifying step of specifying, when the designated point belongs to an overlapping region of a plurality of frames, any one of a plurality of selected regions corresponding to the plurality of frames constituting the overlapping region, based on a movement of the designated point; The computer performs a selection area specific method.

9. A program for causing a computer to execute the selected area specifying method according to claim 8.

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