Display device, display control method and program

Abstract

To provide a display device, display device-control method and program allowing for improving the convenience in searching for desired information from among information classified in a hierarchical structure.SOLUTION: A display device 1 in the present invention comprises a display section 110 that displays information classified in a hierarchical structure, an operation section 120 that is for searching for desired information from among information displayed on the display section 110, and a display control section 130 that makes a display control of the display section 110 depending on operation of the operation section 120. The display control section 130 makes a display control with information selection in an arbitrary hierarchy such that, information selection in a hierarchy higher in order than the arbitrary hierarchy is enabled while holding a selection result of the arbitrary hierarchy.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a display device that classifies and displays a large amount of information in a hierarchical structure, a control method for the display device, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] A conventional technique of this type is known, for example, from Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for simultaneously displaying information from an intermediate layer (second layer) and a final layer (third layer) on a screen in response to information selection from a first layer.

[0003] On the other hand, Window Explorer (registered trademark) provided by Microsoft displays information classified into a hierarchical structure in a tree format, and displays information in the second hierarchical level in response to information selection in the first hierarchical level, and displays information in the third hierarchical level in response to information selection in the second hierarchical level. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-265244 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When searching for information, there are cases where the target information (such as a document to display, a program to run, or music to listen to) is not clearly defined, and users want to reverse-search for related information from the information they have already selected. A specific example will be explained below. Let us consider the case of selecting a song (club music). The user selects "club (where the song was played)" in the first layer, "DJ (the performer of the song)" in the second layer, and "song title" in the third layer (the final layer). For example, a user selects a club and a DJ in the first and second layers, narrows down the search results, and finds a desired song. However, the user may want to search for other DJs who performed that song. However, conventional technology does not allow users to narrow down information in higher layers from lower layers. Furthermore, users may want to use other DJs who performed the desired song as search keys to search for other songs played by that DJ. In other words, it would be convenient if users could move search keys (information that serves as a criterion and condition for narrowing down the search results) between multiple layers to search for desired information, but such technology has not yet been proposed.

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a display device, a control method for a display device, and a program that can improve convenience when searching for desired information from information classified in a hierarchical structure. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The display device of the present invention comprises a display unit that displays information classified in a hierarchical structure, an operation unit for searching for desired information from the information displayed on the display unit, and a display control unit that controls the display of the display unit in accordance with operation of the operation unit, and is characterized in that, when information is selected at an arbitrary level, the display control unit controls the display so that information at a level higher than the arbitrary level can be selected while retaining the selection result of the arbitrary level.

[0008] In the above display device, the display control unit is characterized in that, when information is selected in an arbitrary layer, the display control unit updates information to be displayed in layers other than the arbitrary layer in accordance with the selected information.

[0009] In the above display device, the display control unit is characterized in that it does not display information that is not related to the information selected in the arbitrary layer in layers other than the arbitrary layer.

[0010] In the above display device, the display control unit is characterized in that, in layers other than the arbitrary layer, it displays information related to information selected in the arbitrary layer and information unrelated to the information selected in the arbitrary layer in a distinguishable manner.

[0011] In the above display device, the display unit displays information of all hierarchical levels in one display area, and the display control unit sequentially displays information of lower hierarchical levels as information of a higher hierarchical level is selected.

[0012] In the above-mentioned display device, the display control unit is characterized in that the overall display area is made to have a spreading shape so that the number of pieces of information that can be listed in each layer increases from the upper layer to the lower layer, and in the display area of ​​each layer, the information classified in each layer is scrolled and displayed.

[0013] In the above display device, the operation unit is characterized in that a plurality of pieces of information can be selected simultaneously.

[0014] In the above display device, the information is information related to music, and by selecting a music title at any level, it is possible to reverse-look up the music performance location and / or music performer classified at a higher level.

[0015] The control method for a display device of the present invention is characterized by executing an operation step of searching for desired information from information classified in a hierarchical structure, and a display control step of performing display control so that, upon selection of information at an arbitrary hierarchy in the operation step, information at a hierarchy higher than the arbitrary hierarchy can be selected while retaining the selection result of the arbitrary hierarchy.

[0016] The program of the present invention is characterized by causing a computer to execute each step of the above-described method for controlling a display device. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a display system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the display device. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device (after tentative selection of the first layer). [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display on the display device (after provisional selection of the second hierarchical level). [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device (after provisional selection of the third hierarchical layer). [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display on the display device (after main selection of the third layer). [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display on the display device (after provisional selection of the second layer when the third layer is used as a reference). [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device according to Modification 1 (after main selection of the third layer). [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a display device according to Modification 1 (after main selection of the third and fourth layers). [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device according to Modification 2 (after multiple books on the third layer have been selected). [Figure 11] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing display examples (stereoscopic display) of display devices according to other modified examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] A display device, a control method for a display device, and a program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a display system SY to which a display device 1 of the present invention is applied. The display system SY includes a display device 1 that provides a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for information search, and an information providing server 2 that provides information to the display device 1. The display device 1 and the information providing server 2 are connected via a network 3 such as the Internet.

[0019] The display device 1 includes a CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit), a ROM 12 (Read Only Memory), a RAM 13 (Random Access Memory), a device-side communication unit 14, a motion sensor 15, and a display 16.

[0020] The CPU 11 performs overall control of each unit within the display device 1. The ROM 12 stores various control programs and control data in a non-volatile manner. The control programs stored include an information search program (see FIGS. 3 to 7) for performing information searches, a communication program for communicating with the information providing server 2, and the like. The RAM 13 is used as a work area when the CPU 11 performs various controls.

[0021] The device-side communication unit 14 communicates with the information providing server 2 via the network 3. The motion sensor 15 detects the user's body movements, and in this embodiment is mainly used for information search (selection of information that will be used as a narrowing-down condition). For example, it is conceivable to detect the movement of a part of the body such as a hand or finger, or a combination of movements of multiple parts such as both hands or both feet. It is also possible to detect the movement of a part of the face such as the eyes or mouth. The detection method may be a camera or various sensors such as an infrared sensor. The display 16 displays various information, including a GUI for information search (hereinafter referred to as "information search GUI") as shown in Figures 3 to 7.

[0022] As a modified example, a touch panel may be installed instead of the display 16, and the motion sensor 15 may be omitted. Also, instead of the motion sensor 15, a pointing device such as a mouse may be installed, or a microphone may be installed so that operations can be performed by voice uttered by the user.

[0023] On the other hand, the information providing server 2 includes a server-side communication unit 21 and an information database 22. The server-side communication unit 21 communicates with the display device 1 via the network 3. The information database 22 provides the display device 1 with information to be searched for in an information search. The provision of information is triggered by, for example, the power-on of the display device 1, the start of an information search program, or an information update operation by the user. The display device 1 stores the provided information in a predetermined storage area (such as RAM 13).

[0024] Instead of storing information on the display device 1 side, the display device 1 and the information providing server 2 may be constantly connected, and display data may be acquired from the information providing server 2 (information database 22) as needed in response to a search operation on the display device 1. That is, an operation signal may be sent from the display device 1 to the information providing server 2, and the information providing server 2 may send display data for displaying an information search GUI to the display device 1. In this case, the information search program is executed by the information providing server 2.

[0025] Next, the functional configuration of the display device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The display device 1 includes a display unit 110, an operation unit 120, and a display control unit 130 as its main functional components.

[0026] The display unit 110 has the display 16 as its main component, and displays information classified in a hierarchical structure as a GUI for information search. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3, information for all hierarchical levels is displayed within a single display area 40. Also, although not specifically shown, the user's operation position is indicated by a cursor or the like.

[0027] The operation unit 120, which mainly includes the motion sensor 15, is used to search for desired information from among the information displayed on the display unit 110. In this embodiment, a provisional selection operation for provisionally selecting information, a final selection operation for finally selecting information, and a scroll operation for scrolling through information are each associated with a different action (movement of a part of the body). The layer to be operated is identified by, for example, moving a cursor according to the position of a hand detected by the motion sensor 15.

[0028] The display control unit 130, which mainly includes the CPU 11, the ROM 12, and the RAM 13, controls the display of the display unit 110 in response to operations on the operation unit 120. In particular, the display control unit 130 controls the display of the information search GUI so that, upon selection of information in an arbitrary layer, the selection result of the arbitrary layer is maintained and information in a layer higher than the arbitrary layer can be selected. For example, while the selection result of the third layer is displayed in a selected state, the selection state of the first and second layers can be canceled, and information can be selected in the first or second layer. Furthermore, upon selection of information in an arbitrary layer, the display control unit 130 updates information displayed in layers other than the arbitrary layer in accordance with the selected information. Specifically, information unrelated to the information selected in the arbitrary layer is hidden in layers other than the arbitrary layer. In this embodiment, information related to music is selected as the information.

[0029] Next, a specific example of display control by the display control unit 130 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7. As shown in FIG. 3, the information search GUI of this embodiment selects "Club (where the song was played)" in the first layer, "DJ (performer of the song)" in the second layer, and "Song Title" in the third layer, which is the final layer. The display control unit 130 also makes the overall display area 40 fan out so that the amount of information that can be listed in each layer increases from the upper layer to the lower layers, and in the display areas 41, 42, and 43 of each layer, the information classified in each layer is scrolled in the direction of the arrows shown. Also, as information in a higher layer is selected, information in the lower layers is sequentially displayed. Note that FIG. 3 shows a state in which "Ca" and "Db" are displayed as information in the first layer (options belonging to the first layer) in response to a predetermined search start operation by the user, and the user selects "Ca" from these.

[0030] In this embodiment, not only can information be narrowed down from a higher hierarchy to a lower hierarchy, but also "reverse lookup" can be performed, narrowing down information from a lower hierarchy to a higher hierarchy. When performing this reverse lookup, information that will serve as a search key (information that serves as a criterion and condition for narrowing down) is selected, and this selection will be referred to as "final selection" hereinafter. To distinguish this from "final selection," a normal selection, such as the selection of information "Ca" in FIG. 3, will be referred to as "provisional selection." In this embodiment, when the cursor is positioned over the information to be selected and one hand is brought close to the sensor, the "provisional selection" state is entered, and when this state is maintained for a predetermined period of time or longer, the "final selection" state is entered. Furthermore, when performing reverse lookup after "final selection," the "final selection" state is maintained with one hand, and a selection operation in a higher hierarchy is performed with the other hand.

[0031] 4 shows a state in which information on the second layer is displayed in response to information selection on the first layer, and the user has provisionally selected information "Db" from among the displayed information. Note that the information on the second layer is information that is a lower layer below the information "Ca" selected on the first layer (information related to the information "Ca"). In other words, this means that the information database 22 stores "Da," "Db," and "Dc" as DJs who have previously performed at the club "Ca."

[0032] 5 shows a state in which information in the third layer is displayed as a result of information selection in the second layer, and the user has provisionally selected information "T02" from among the displayed information. Note that the information in the third layer is information that is a lower layer than the information "Ca" selected in the first layer and the information "Db" selected in the second layer (information "Ca" and information obtained by narrowing down the information "Ca" using the "and" condition). In other words, this means that the information database 22 stores "T01," "T02," "T03," and "T04" as songs that DJ "Db" previously played at club "Ca."

[0033] FIG. 6 shows a state in which the user has made a final selection of information "T02" in the third hierarchical level (see mark M1). This final selection cancels the selection states in the first and second hierarchical levels. This final selection also starts narrowing down information from lower hierarchical levels to higher hierarchical levels, using information "T02" as a search key. In other words, FIG. 6 means that information database 22 stores "Da" and "Db" as DJs who have played song "T02" in the past, and stores "Ca" and "Cb" as clubs where song "T02" has been played in the past.

[0034] Note that Figure 6 does not specifically specify the display position of the narrowed-down results associated with the final selection, but in this embodiment, the information belonging to each hierarchical level can be scrolled within each display area 41, 42, 43, so that, in association with a provisional selection or final selection at any hierarchical level, the information displayed at each hierarchical level may be centered in the scrolling direction (so that the narrowed-down information is positioned near the center of each display area 41, 42, 43).

[0035] FIG. 7 shows a state in which, after the final selection of information "T02," the user provisionally selects information "Da" in the second hierarchical level. This provisional selection narrows down the information in the first hierarchical level. In other words, this means that "Cb" is stored in the information database 22 as a club where DJ "Da" has previously performed the song "T02." In this way, in this embodiment, by selecting a song title in the third hierarchical level, it is possible to reverse-look up the DJs (song performers) and clubs (song performance locations) classified in the higher hierarchical levels.

[0036] If you finally select a song title and want to perform some action on that song (play, purchase, etc.), you can simply perform a specific action (for example, turn your palm away or clench your fist) while song title 1 is provisionally or permanently selected.

[0037] Furthermore, if you want to narrow down the information from a higher level to a lower level after performing a reverse lookup, you can change the search key by selecting, for example, the information "Cb" at the first level. Also, if you select, for example, the information "Da" at the second level, the higher level (first level) will display the clubs where DJ "Da" has performed in the past, and the lower level (third level) will display the titles of songs that DJ "Da" has performed in the past.

[0038] As described above, the information search GUI of this embodiment allows users to search for desired information by moving the search key between multiple hierarchies. In other words, it is convenient because it allows not only general information narrowing down from a higher hierarchy to a lower hierarchy, but also reverse lookup from a lower hierarchy to a higher hierarchy.

[0039] In addition, the entire display area 40 is designed to spread out so that the number of pieces of information that can be listed in each layer increases from the upper layer to the lower layer, and as information in a higher layer is selected, information in the lower layers is displayed sequentially, so that the layers that can be selected can be moved in one go from the first layer to the lowest layer.

[0040] The following modifications can be adopted. [Variation 1] 8 and 9 are diagrams showing display examples of the display device 1 according to the first modification. In the first modification, multiple pieces of information can be selected (final selection) at different levels. FIG. 8 shows the state after the information "A22" has been finally selected at the third level (see mark M1). As a result of this final selection, information related to the information "A22" is displayed at levels other than the third level. Meanwhile, FIG. 9 shows the state after the information "A222" has been finally selected at the fourth level after FIG. 8 (see mark M2). As a result of this final selection, the information "A22" and information related to the information "A222" (information obtained by narrowing down the information "A22" and the information "A222" using the "AND" condition) are displayed at the first and second levels.

[0041] [Variation 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device 1 according to the second modification. In the second modification, multiple pieces of information can be selected (final selection) at the same level. The figure shows the state after the information "A22" and information "B12" have been final selected at the third level (see marks M1 and M2). With this final selection, information related to the information "A22" or information "B12" is displayed at levels other than the third level. In other words, information narrowed down by using the OR condition between the information "A22" and information "B12" is displayed.

[0042] In variant example 1, the selected multiple pieces of information are narrowed down using an AND condition, and in variant example 2, the selected multiple pieces of information are narrowed down using an OR condition, but the user may be able to set the narrowing down conditions as desired.

[0043] [Other variations] Although the display unit 110 in the above embodiment shows the information search GUI in a two-dimensional manner, it may also be displayed in a three-dimensional manner. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the surface of a cone may be considered the entire display area 40, and information for each level (indicated by "******" in the figure) may be arranged on that surface. In this case, display areas from higher to lower levels are arranged from near the tip of the cone toward the base, and the information for each level is displayed by scrolling along an arc. Furthermore, to create an overall sense of perspective (in the figure, the tip of the cone is far away), the font size of the information may be varied for each level, or the font size may be made smaller as the distance from the center to the periphery increases.

[0044] In the above embodiment, information on a lower hierarchical level is sequentially displayed as information on a higher hierarchical level is selected, but this display method is not necessarily required. For example, the display screen may be divided into three sections, with information on the first hierarchical level displayed in a first area, information on the second hierarchical level displayed in a second area, and information on the third hierarchical level displayed in a third area.

[0045] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, information belonging to each hierarchical level is scrolled, but it is not necessarily scrolled and may be displayed at a fixed position. Furthermore, although the entire display area 40 is illustrated as spreading to the right from the upper hierarchical level to the lower hierarchical level, it may also be spread to the left or in the vertical direction. Furthermore, instead of spreading to the right, the entire display area 40 may be displayed in a tree format.

[0046] In the above embodiment, information unrelated to information selected at an arbitrary level is hidden, but information related to information selected at an arbitrary level may be displayed in a distinguishable manner from unrelated information. For example, a display method such as displaying information related to the selected information normally and displaying unrelated information in a grayed-out state is conceivable.

[0047] In addition, although the above embodiment distinguishes between the operation and display of provisional selection and final selection, this distinction is not necessary. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which the selection state of the hierarchical level one level higher is sequentially cancelled as information is selected, such as cancelling the selection state of the first hierarchical level when the second hierarchical level is selected, and cancelling the selection state of the second hierarchical level when the third hierarchical level is selected.

[0048] In the above embodiment, the final selection of the third hierarchical level allows the information to be narrowed down to higher hierarchical levels, in the order of the second hierarchical level and the first hierarchical level, but after the final selection of the third hierarchical level, the first hierarchical level may be final selected, and the second hierarchical level may display information related to the first and third hierarchical levels (information obtained by narrowing down the selection results of the first and third hierarchical levels using an AND condition). In other words, the information does not necessarily have to be narrowed down in hierarchical order.

[0049] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the information for displaying the information search GUI is acquired from the information providing server 2, but it may also be configured to be stored within the display device 1. In other words, the present invention may be realized by a stand-alone device (display device 1).

[0050] It is also possible to provide each component of the display system SY (display device 1) described above as a program. The program can also be provided by storing it on various recording media (CD-ROM, flash memory, etc.). In other words, the program for causing a computer to function as each component of the display system SY, and the recording media on which it is recorded, are also within the scope of the present invention. Other modifications are possible as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1: Display device 2: Information server 3: Network 11: CPU 12: ROM 13: RAM 14: Device-side communication unit 15: Motion sensor 16: Display 21: Server-side communication unit 22: Information database 40: Overall display area 41: First-level display area 42: Second-level display area 43: Third-level display area 110: Display unit 120: Operation unit 130: Display control unit SY: Display system

Claims

1. a display unit that displays information classified in a hierarchical structure; an operation unit for searching for desired information from among the information displayed on the display unit; a display control unit that controls display on the display unit in response to an operation of the operation unit, The display control unit controls the display so that, when information is selected at an arbitrary hierarchical level, information at a higher hierarchical level than the arbitrary hierarchical level can be selected while retaining the selection result of the arbitrary hierarchical level, and updates the information displayed at hierarchical levels other than the arbitrary hierarchical level according to the information selected by the information selection.

2. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the display control unit prevents information that is not related to the information selected in the arbitrary layer from being displayed in layers other than the arbitrary layer.

3. The display device according to claim 1, characterized in that the display control unit displays information related to the information selected in the arbitrary layer and information unrelated to the information selected in the arbitrary layer in layers other than the arbitrary layer in a manner that allows them to be distinguished from each other.

4. the display unit displays information of all hierarchical levels in one display area, 4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit sequentially displays information in a lower hierarchy in accordance with information selection in a higher hierarchy.

5. The display device according to claim 4, characterized in that the display control unit makes the entire display area wider so that the number of pieces of information that can be listed in each layer increases from the upper layer to the lower layer, and in the display area of ​​each layer, the information classified in each layer is scrolled and displayed.

6. 6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the operation unit allows a plurality of pieces of information to be selected simultaneously.

7. The display device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the information is information related to music, and by selecting a music title at any level, it is possible to reverse-look up the music performance location and / or music performer classified at a higher level.

8. A display control method executed by a display device, comprising: an operation receiving step of receiving an operation for searching for desired information from among the information classified in a hierarchical structure displayed on the display unit; a display control step of performing display control in response to an operation for selecting information in an arbitrary layer accepted in the operation accepting step, while maintaining the selection result of the arbitrary layer, so that information in a layer higher than the arbitrary layer can be selected, and updating information displayed in layers other than the arbitrary layer according to the information selected by the information selection; A display control method comprising:

9. A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the display control method according to claim 8.

Images