Electronic devices, display methods, and programs

Abstract

Reduce the portion of the displayed content that becomes invisible during touch operation. [Solution] The device comprises a housing, a display unit having a display area exposed from the housing, a touch sensor for detecting touch operations by an operating means in an area outside the display area, and a control unit for controlling the display operation of the display unit. When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of a touch operation by the touch sensor are met, the control unit causes at least a portion of the display content displayed on the display unit to be displayed in a local area within the display area, which is a local area predetermined based on the positional relationship between the operating means and the display area when the touch operation is performed.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device, a display method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in an electronic device provided with a touch panel overlapping the display area of a display unit, a method for dealing with the problem that the display becomes difficult to view due to an operation means such as a finger performing a touch operation has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of displaying a balloon-shaped icon having the same design as the selected icon in a vicinity area that is not hidden by a finger in a state where the icon is hidden by being selected by a finger.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, the above conventional technology assumes that the display area and the touch panel overlap. Even in an electronic device provided with a touch sensor at a position that does not overlap the display area, a problem may occur in that a part of the display area is hidden by an operation means during a touch operation. Regarding a method for dealing with the problem that a part of the display becomes invisible during a touch operation in such an electronic device, no conventional study has been made.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to reduce a portion of the display content that becomes invisible during a touch operation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, an electronic device according to the present invention includes a housing, A display unit having a display area exposed from the housing, A touch sensor that detects touch operations performed by an operating means in an area outside the aforementioned display area, A control unit that controls the display operation of the display unit, Equipped with, When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of the touch operation by the touch sensor are met, the control unit displays at least a portion of the display content that was displayed on the display unit, such that it fits within a local area of ​​the display area, which is predetermined based on the positional relationship between the operating means and the display area when the touch operation is performed.

[0007] To solve the above problems, the electronic device according to the present invention is The casing and A display unit having a display area exposed from the housing, A touch sensor that detects touch operations performed by an operating means in an area outside the aforementioned display area, A control unit that controls the display operation of the display unit, Equipped with, When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of the touch operation by the touch sensor are met, the control unit identifies the position of the operating means based on the detection data from the predetermined sensor, determines a local area within the display area based on the identified position of the operating means, and displays at least a portion of the display content that was displayed on the display unit so as to fit within the local area. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the portion of the displayed content that becomes invisible during touch operation. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the appearance of an electronic clock. [Figure 2]It is a block diagram showing the main functional configuration of an electronic clock. [Figure 3] It is a diagram for explaining the detection principle of a touch operation by a touch sensor. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing a notification screen. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing a settings menu screen. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing a notification screen in which the element arrangement is adjusted according to a touch operation. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing the shape of a local area and the positional relationship with the touch position. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing a proximity area. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing another example of a notification screen in which the element arrangement is adjusted. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing another example of a notification screen in which the element arrangement is adjusted. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing the content of setting data. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing a notification screen in which the element arrangement is adjusted according to a touch operation on the left side part. [Figure 13] It is a diagram showing a notification screen in which the element arrangement is adjusted according to a touch operation on the upper side part. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing the content of local area data. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing a settings menu screen in which the element arrangement is adjusted according to a touch operation. [Figure 16] It is a flowchart showing the control procedure of display control processing. [Figure 17] It is a flowchart showing the control procedure of display control processing according to Modification 1. [Figure 18] It is a flowchart showing the control procedure of display control processing according to Modification 2.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figure 1, the electronic clock 1 (electronic device) comprises a housing 101 in which a display unit 15 and the like are housed, and two bands 102 attached to the housing 101. The electronic clock 1 is a wristwatch that is worn on the user's wrist by wrapping the bands 102 around the wrist. The display unit 15 has a display area R that is exposed from the housing 101. Hereinafter, the direction parallel to the display surface forming the display area R of the display unit 15 and to the right as viewed from a user facing the display area R is defined as the +X direction, the direction parallel to the display surface of the display unit 15 and upward as viewed from a user facing the display area R and perpendicular to the X direction is defined as the +Y direction, and the direction normal to the display surface of the display unit 15 is defined as the +Z direction.Hereinafter, the +X direction will also be referred to as the right direction, the -X direction as the left direction, the +Y direction as the upward direction, and the -Y direction as the downward direction.The housing 101 is a rectangle with rounded corners when viewed from the +Z direction. However, the shape of the housing 101 is not limited to rectangular or nearly rectangular. For example, the housing 101 may be circular when viewed from the +Z direction. The housing 101 may include a bezel. The bezel is provided in a position that surrounds the display area R of the display unit 15 and is a component that is visible together with the display area R. Hereinafter, when viewing the housing 101 from the direction directly facing the display area R (+Z direction), the four divisions of the housing 101 into upper, lower, left, and right sections will be referred to as the upper section 101T, lower section 101B, left section 101L, and right section 101R. These divisions are for the convenience of explanation, and in reality the housing 101 is a single continuous unit. The boundary lines of the above four sections may be, for example, imaginary lines that pass through the centroid G1 of the display area R (see Figure 7) and form an angle of ±45 degrees with respect to the X direction.

[0011] As shown in Figure 2, the electronic clock 1 comprises a CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit) (control unit), RAM 12 (Random Access Memory), a storage unit 13, a timing unit 14, a display unit 15, a communication unit 16, a touch operation unit 17, and a button operation unit 18. Each part of the electronic clock 1 is connected via a data transmission path such as a bus. The CPU 11 is a processor that controls the operation of the electronic clock 1 by reading and executing the program 131 stored in the storage unit 13 and performing various arithmetic operations. The electronic clock 1 may have multiple processors (for example, multiple CPUs), and the multiple processes executed by the CPU 11 in this embodiment may be executed by these multiple processors. In this case, the control unit is composed of multiple processors. In this case, the multiple processors may be involved in common processing, or the multiple processors may independently execute different processes in parallel. The RAM 12 provides the CPU 11 with a working memory space and stores temporary data. The memory unit 13 is a non-temporary recording medium readable by the CPU 11 as a computer, and stores the program 131 and various data. The memory unit 13 has non-volatile memory such as flash memory. The program 131 is stored in the memory unit 13 in the form of program code that can be read by the computer. The data stored in the memory unit 13 includes setting data 132 and local area data 133. The contents of the setting data 132 and local area data 133 will be described later. The timing unit 14 includes an oscillator circuit, a frequency divider circuit, and a timing circuit. The timing unit 14 counts and holds the current date and time by having the frequency divider circuit divide the clock signal generated by the oscillator circuit, and the timing circuit count the divided signal.

[0012] The display unit 15 comprises a display panel, such as a liquid crystal panel, capable of displaying using a dot matrix method, and a drive circuit for the display panel. The display unit 15 displays various screens, including the time display screen 151 shown in Figure 1, a notification screen 152 (see Figure 4) that displays the content of notifications, and a setting menu screen 153 (see Figure 5) for making various operation settings, in accordance with the image data and control signals transmitted from the CPU 11. The time display screen 151 displays information such as the current time, date, and day of the week that is counted and held by the timing unit 14. In addition, the time display screen 151 displays a notification icon 1511 when a notification is received via the communication unit 16 from an external device, such as a smartphone (not shown). The communication unit 16 is a communication module having an antenna, a modulation / demodulation circuit, a signal processing circuit, etc., and transmits and receives data with external devices according to a predetermined communication standard.

[0013] The touch operation unit 17 includes a touch sensor 171 for detecting touch operations by the user and a sensor control unit 172 for processing related to the detection of touch operations. The touch sensor 171 is located inside the housing 101 and detects touch operations by an operating means such as a finger F (see Figure 3) on an area outside the display area R. The area outside the display area R includes, for example, a surface of the housing 101 that is visible together with the display area R (for example, the bezel facing the +Z direction, hereinafter also referred to as the "front"). In this embodiment, the touch sensor 171 is located in a position on the housing 101 that can detect touch operations on this front. Note that the area outside the display area R may also include a side of the housing 101 adjacent to the front. Therefore, the touch sensor 171 may be located in a position that can detect touch operations on the side of the housing 101. Furthermore, the touch sensor 171 is located in a position that can detect touch operations on at least one of the upper portion 101T, left portion 101L, and right portion 101R of the housing 101. The operating means is not limited to a finger F, but may also be a stylus or the like. In the following description, the operating means will be assumed to be a finger F. Also, in the following description, for convenience, a touch operation performed on the area of ​​the surface of the housing 101 on which the touch sensor 171 is provided will also be referred to as "touch operation on the touch sensor 171". As shown in Figure 1, in the electronic clock 1 of this embodiment, a touch sensor 171R is provided on the right portion 101R of the housing 101, and a touch sensor 171B is provided on the lower portion 101B. The touch sensors 171R and 171B may be connected as a single unit. The touch operation unit 17 detects the presence or absence of a touch operation by a finger F and the touch position, and outputs an operation signal including this detection result information to the CPU 11. As shown in Figure 3, the touch sensor 171 is located inside the housing 101, along the inner wall of the housing 101. The material of the part of the housing 101 on which the touch sensor 171 is provided (for example, the bezel) is a dielectric or an insulator. The touch sensor 171 in this embodiment is a self-capacitive type sensor that detects contact (touch operation) of the user's finger F with the housing 101 based on the change in capacitance C that occurs between the finger F and the sensor.Touch sensor 171R has a plurality of electrodes (not shown) arranged in the Y direction, and touch sensor 171B has a plurality of electrodes (not shown) arranged in the X direction. Sensor control unit 172 detects the capacitance C between the plurality of electrodes and finger F, and detects a touch operation by finger F when the capacitance C generated between any electrode and finger F increases to a predetermined threshold as finger F approaches. Sensor control unit 172 also identifies the touch position of finger F based on the position of the electrode among the plurality of electrodes whose capacitance C exceeds the threshold. Sensor control unit 172 transmits a signal to CPU 11 related to the detection results of whether or not contact was made and the contact position. CPU 11 may execute at least a part of the processing performed by sensor control unit 172. With a touch operation unit 17 configured in this way, it is possible to detect tap operations where finger F touches the surface of housing 101 and releases it immediately, long-press operations where finger F continues to touch the surface of housing 101, and slide operations where the touch position is slid on the surface of housing 101. For example, touch sensor 171R can detect sliding operations in the Y direction as indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, and touch sensor 171B can detect sliding operations in the X direction as indicated by the arrow in Figure 1. Note that the touch sensor 171 is not limited to a self-capacitance type, but may also be a mutual-capacitance type.

[0014] The button operation unit 18 has a plurality of operation buttons 181. As shown in Figure 1, the plurality of button operation units 18 are provided on the +X direction side and the -X direction side of the housing 101. The button operation unit 18 outputs an operation signal to the CPU 11 that includes information identifying the operation button 181 that has been pressed. The button operation unit 18 may also have other operating means such as a crown in addition to the operation buttons 181.

[0015] Next, the operation of the electronic clock 1 will be described. In the electronic clock 1 of this embodiment, the screen displayed on the display unit 15 can be switched by sliding the touch sensor 171B, which is provided on the lower part 101B of the housing 101, to the right or to the left. For example, as shown in Figure 1, when the notification icon 1511 is displayed on the time display screen 151, sliding the touch sensor 171B to the left will switch the display on the display unit 15 to the notification screen 152 shown in Figure 4. The notification screen 152 displays the content of the notification. For example, if it is a notification informing of the receipt of an email, as shown in Figure 4, a part of the content of the received email will be displayed on the notification screen 152. While the notification screen 152 is displayed, sliding the touch sensor 171R in the up or down direction will scroll the screen up or down, changing the range of the entire email that is displayed in the display area R. While the notification screen 152 is displayed, sliding the touch sensor 171B to the right will return to the time display screen 151.

[0016] Furthermore, by sliding the touch sensor 171B to the right while the time display screen 151 is displayed, the display on the display unit 15 can be switched to, for example, the settings menu screen 153 shown in Figure 5. The settings menu screen 153 contains a plurality of menu items 30 related to the operation settings of the electronic clock 1. By sliding the touch sensor 171R up or down while the settings menu screen 153 is displayed, the list of menu items 30 can be moved up or down to change the menu item 30 located in the center of the screen. By performing a predetermined confirmation operation when the desired menu item 30 is located in the center of the screen, the menu item 30 in the center of the screen can be selected. Subsequently, the system transitions to a screen for setting the selected menu item 30. The confirmation operation may be, for example, a long press or double tap operation (a quick double touch operation) on the touch sensor 171R. Alternatively, a cursor (not shown) may move up or down in response to the up or down slide operation on the touch sensor 171R, and the menu item 30 that the cursor is on may be selected in response to the confirmation operation. While the notification screen 152 is displayed, the user can return to the time display screen 151 by performing a leftward slide operation on the touch sensor 171B.

[0017] In the notification screen 152 and the settings menu screen 153, when a left-handed user wearing the electronic watch 1 on their right wrist touches the touch sensor 171R on the right side 101R with their left finger F, a portion of the display area R of the display unit 15 is obscured by the finger F. As a result, part of the displayed content becomes invisible during a slide operation on the touch sensor 171R. Therefore, the CPU 11 of the electronic watch 1 in this embodiment controls the display operation of the display unit 15 so as to reduce the portion of the displayed content that becomes invisible during a touch operation. Specifically, the CPU 11 adjusts the arrangement of elements of the displayed content in the display area R of the display unit 15 so that the displayed content displayed in the display area R is less likely to be obscured by the finger F. Hereinafter, this operation will be referred to as "element arrangement adjustment". The CPU 11 performs element arrangement adjustment when predetermined conditions regarding the detection of a touch operation by the touch sensor 171 are met. In this embodiment, the predetermined conditions are met when the touch sensor 171 detects a touch operation at a certain touch position on the housing 101. When the CPU 11 adjusts the element placement, it displays at least a portion of the display content shown on the display unit 15, namely display elements E (see Figure 6), so that they fit within a local area Ra (see Figure 6), which is part of the display area R. For example, when the notification screen 152 shown in Figure 4 is displayed and the touch sensor 171R detects a touch operation at a certain touch position P, the CPU 11 displays display elements E, which are a portion of the content of the email from the beginning, so that they fit within the local area Ra shown in Figure 6. The display elements E are displayed in this local area Ra in an arrangement that is shaped to match the shape of the local area Ra. The remaining area of ​​the display area R other than the local area Ra is displayed as, for example, blank. The local area Ra is predetermined and associated with the touch position P. Furthermore, the local area Ra is predetermined based on the positional relationship between the finger F and the display area R when the touch operation is performed. When the finger F of the left hand performs a touch operation on the touch sensor 171R, a portion of the lower right area of ​​the display area R is hidden by the finger F, as shown in Figure 6. Therefore, for each touch position P detected by the touch sensor 171R, a local area Ra is predetermined and associated with the display area R, excluding the lower right area.Display element E is displayed within the local area Ra, and not in the remaining area of ​​the display area R excluding the local area Ra. Therefore, the user can view the contents of the email while performing a slide operation on the touch area of ​​the touch sensor 171R. The user may also pre-set whether or not to perform element placement adjustment when the above predetermined conditions are met, i.e., to turn the element placement adjustment function on or off. The contents of this setting are recorded in the setting data 132.

[0018] Referring to Figure 7, the local region Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the right portion 101R of the housing 101 will be described in detail. In this case, the local region Ra is the upper left region of the two regions obtained by dividing the display region R with a virtual line that forms a 45-degree angle with respect to the X direction. The position of the virtual line may be set to a position between, for example, a position passing through the centroid G1 of the display region R and a position passing through a representative point (for example, the centroid) of the touch sensor 171R. Furthermore, if the distance from the centroid G1 of the display region R to the touch position P is d1, and the distance from the centroid G2 of the local region Ra to the touch position P is d2, the shape of the local region Ra is determined such that distance d2 is greater than distance d1. In addition, the local region Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the right portion 101R includes at least the portion of the display region R adjacent to the boundary point Q shown in Figure 7. The boundary point Q in Figure 7 is the intersection of the boundary line between the left portion 101L and the upper portion 101T of the housing 101 and the outer perimeter of the display region R. Furthermore, a local region Ra is associated with the touch position P belonging to the right-side portion 101R, which does not include at least a portion of the proximity region Rb (see Figure 8) adjacent to the touch position P within the display region R. Here, the proximity region Rb may include the point closest to the touch position P within the display region R, and its area may be 1 / N of the total area of ​​the display region R. Here, N is 2 or greater. For example, N may be 4, and the area of ​​the proximity region Rb may be 1 / 4 of the area of ​​the display region R. The imaginary line that demarcates the proximity region Rb within the display region R may be parallel to the X-axis or Y-axis, or it may be a line perpendicular to the line passing through the centroid G1 of the display region R and the touch position P. The local region Ra is defined so as not to include at least a portion of such a proximity region Rb. In the above description of the local region Ra, "touch position P" may be a representative point of the range where touch operation is possible (for example, the centroid of the touch sensor 171) instead of the actual position where the touch operation was detected. In this case, the local region Ra will be the same regardless of which point within the range of the touch sensor 171 is touched. This simplifies the management of the local region Ra. In the following explanation, any touch position P detected by a certain touch sensor 171 will be represented by the position of the centroid of the touch sensor 171.Furthermore, in the following, the local region Ra shown in Figures 6 and 7 will also be referred to as the "upper left local region Ra".

[0019] The local area Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the right-side portion 101R is not limited to those exemplified in Figures 6 and 7, but can be any predetermined area based on the positional relationship between the finger F and the display area R when a touch operation is performed. For example, as shown in Figure 9, the upper of two areas obtained by dividing the display area R with a virtual line parallel to the X direction may be designated as the local area Ra. The local area Ra shown in Figure 9 also does not include a part of the adjacent area Rb shown in Figure 8, but includes the part adjacent to the boundary point Q. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 10, the left part of two areas obtained by dividing the display area R with a virtual line parallel to the Y direction may be designated as the local area Ra. The local area Ra shown in Figure 10 does not include the entire adjacent area Rb shown in Figure 8, but includes the part adjacent to the boundary point Q. Even when the local area Ra is defined as shown in Figures 9 and 10, most of the local area Ra is not hidden by the finger F, thus reducing the portion of the display content that becomes invisible during a touch operation. Furthermore, in the local region Ra shown in Figures 9 and 10, the amount of information contained per unit area of ​​the display element E is greater than the amount of information per unit area shown in Figure 4. Specifically, a smaller font is used in the local region Ra shown in Figures 9 and 10 than in Figure 4. Thus, when adjusting the element placement, the amount of information displayed per unit area in the local region Ra may be increased. The amount of information per unit area may also be increased when using the local region Ra shown in Figures 6 and 7.

[0020] When a user wearing the electronic watch 1 on their left wrist touches the touch sensor 171R with their right finger F, the display area R is hardly obscured by the finger F. Therefore, if the user is right-handed, element placement adjustment may not be performed even if a touch operation is performed on the touch sensor 171R. As shown in Figure 11, the user's dominant hand is pre-registered in the setting data 132 according to the user's operation. The CPU 11 refers to this setting data 132 to determine whether or not to perform element placement adjustment in response to the touch operation. In addition, the setting data 132 may be pre-set to determine whether or not to perform element placement adjustment for each screen to be displayed. In the setting data 132 shown in Figure 11, element placement adjustment is not performed for the time display screen 151, while it is performed for the notification screen 152 and the settings menu screen 153. The CPU 11 refers to the setting data 132 and determines each time whether or not to perform element placement adjustment for the screen currently being displayed.

[0021] As shown in Figure 12, an additional touch sensor 171L may be provided on the left portion 101L of the housing 101, or an additional touch sensor 171T may be provided on the upper portion 101T of the housing 101. The four touch sensors 171T, 171B, 171L, and 171R may be connected together, and the touch position may be detected from the change in capacitance of multiple electrodes within each touch sensor 171. In the configuration shown in Figure 12, when a right-handed user performs a touch operation on touch sensor 171L or 171T, a part of the display area R is obscured by the finger F, as shown in Figures 12 and 13. Therefore, the CPU 11 adjusts the element placement when the user is right-handed and a touch operation on touch sensor 171L or 171T is detected. When touch sensor 171L detects a touch operation, that is, when the touch position P is located in the left portion 101L, the CPU 11 displays a display element E, which is part of the email content, so that it fits within the local area Ra shown in Figure 12. The local region Ra shown in Figure 12 is symmetrical to the local region Ra shown in Figures 6 and 7. The local region Ra shown in Figure 12 includes at least the portion of the display region R adjacent to the boundary point Q on the boundary between the right portion 101R and the upper portion 101T. Furthermore, the local region Ra shown in Figure 12 does not include at least a portion of the adjacent region Rb (not shown) of the display region R that is close to the touch position P. Hereafter, the local region Ra shown in Figure 12 will also be referred to as the "upper right local region Ra".

[0022] When the touch sensor 171T detects a touch operation, that is, when the touch position P belongs to the upper portion 101T, the CPU 11 displays a portion of the email content so that it fits within the local region Ra shown in Figure 13. The local region Ra shown in Figure 13 is vertically symmetrical to the local region Ra shown in Figures 6 and 7. The local region Ra shown in Figure 13 includes at least the portion of the display area R adjacent to the boundary point Q, which corresponds to the central position of the lower portion 101B. In addition, the local region Ra shown in Figure 13 does not include at least a portion of the adjacent region Rb (not shown) that is close to the touch position P within the display area R. Hereafter, the local region Ra shown in Figure 13 will also be referred to as the "lower left local region Ra". Note that if a left-handed user performs a touch operation on the touch sensor 171T with a finger F of their left hand, the area hidden by the finger F will be horizontally reversed compared to Figure 13, so a local region Ra that is horizontally symmetrical to the local region Ra shown in Figure 13 (hereinafter also referred to as the "lower right local region Ra") will be used.

[0023] Thus, when touch sensors 171R and 171L are provided in the right portion 101R and the left portion 101L, respectively, and / or when a touch sensor 171T is provided in the upper portion 101T, the appropriate local area Ra differs depending on the combination of the user's dominant hand and the detected touch position P. For this reason, the CPU 11 selects one local area Ra from among several different local areas Ra that corresponds to the combination of the user's dominant hand and touch position P, and displays the display element E so that it fits within the selected local area Ra. In this case, the CPU 11 selects the local area Ra based on the local area data 133 shown in Figure 14. In the local area data 133, the sub-items "up," "down," "left," and "right" of "touch position" represent the cases where the touch position P belongs to the upper portion 101T, lower portion 101B, left portion 101L, and right portion 101R of the housing 101, respectively. Furthermore, the "upper left," "upper right," "lower left," and "lower right" labels at the intersection of the "touch position" data row and the "dominant hand" data column represent the upper left local region Ra (Figures 6 and 7), upper right local region Ra (Figure 12), lower left local region Ra (Figure 13), and lower right local region Ra (not shown), respectively. According to the local region data 133 shown in Figure 14, the CPU 11 selects the lower left local region Ra if the dominant hand is the right hand and the touch position P belongs to the upper part 101T. The CPU 11 also selects the upper right local region Ra if the dominant hand is the right hand and the touch position P belongs to the left part 101L. The CPU 11 also selects the lower right local region Ra if the dominant hand is the left hand and the touch position P belongs to the upper part 101T. The CPU 11 also selects the upper left local region Ra if the dominant hand is the left hand and the touch position P belongs to the right part 101R. In all other cases, the display area R is hardly obscured by the finger F, so the CPU 11 does not perform any element placement adjustments.

[0024] The local region Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the left portion 101L may be the local region Ra shown in Figure 9, or the local region Ra shown in Figure 10 rotated 180 degrees. The local region Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the upper portion 101T may be the local region Ra shown in Figure 9 or Figure 10, or the local region Ra shown in Figure 10 rotated 180 degrees.

[0025] When the settings menu screen 153 shown in Figure 5 is displayed, and a touch operation is detected on the touch sensor 171R by a finger F of the left hand, the CPU 11 may cause the display unit 15 to display as shown in Figure 15. In Figure 15, the upper part of the display area R is defined as the local area Ra. Here, the CPU 11 extracts some menu items 30 (multiple elements) from the multiple menu items 30 (multiple elements) included in the settings menu screen 153 of Figure 5, based on predetermined priorities for each menu item 30, and makes them display elements E. The CPU 11 then displays these display elements E so that they fit within the local area Ra. The priority of each menu item 30 is predetermined and registered in the setting data 132, as shown in Figure 11. In the example shown in Figure 11, the CPU 11 extracts the three menu items 30 with the highest priority, namely, the "Timer," "Alarm," and "Notification" menu items 30. The CPU 11 then displays the selected menu items 30 so that they fit within the local area Ra, as shown in Figure 15. The priority of menu item 30 may be changeable depending on user actions.

[0026] Next, referring to the flowchart in Figure 16, the display control processing performed by the CPU 11 to achieve the above-described operation will be explained. Here, we will explain using the example where four touch sensors 171T, 171B, 171L, and 171R are provided as shown in Figure 12, and the local area data 133 is as shown in Figure 14. The display control processing is performed when display by the display unit 15 is started. When the display control processing is started, the CPU 11 refers to the setting data 132 and determines whether or not the element placement adjustment function is set to ON (step S101). If it is determined that the element placement adjustment function is set to OFF ("NO" in step S101), the CPU 11 terminates the display control processing. If it is determined that the element placement adjustment function is set to ON ("YES" in step S101), the CPU 11 refers to the setting data 132 and identifies the user's dominant hand (step S102). The CPU 11 determines whether or not a touch operation has been detected by any of the touch sensors 171 (step S103). If it is determined that a touch operation has been detected ("YES" in step S103), the CPU 11 determines whether the currently displayed screen is a screen for adjusting element placement (step S104). Here, the CPU 11 refers to the setting data 132 shown in Figure 11 and determines that the currently displayed screen is a screen for adjusting element placement if "Element placement adjustment" is set to "Yes". Note that if element placement adjustment is performed on all screens, step S104 is omitted. If it is determined that the screen is a screen for adjusting element placement ("YES" in step S104), the CPU 11 refers to the local area data 133 shown in Figure 14 and determines whether the local area Ra corresponding to the touch position P of the detected touch operation and the dominant hand combination identified in step S102 is set (step S105). If the CPU 11 finds that there is no local area Ra data at the intersection of the touch position P data row and the dominant hand data column in the local area data 133 (indicated as "-" in Figure 14), it determines that local area Ra is not set (indicated as "NO" in step S105) and proceeds to step S109.The CPU 11 determines that local area Ra is set (YES in step S105) if there is local area Ra data at the intersection of the data row for touch position P and the data column for dominant hand in local area data 133, and identifies local area Ra (step S106). For example, if the touch position P belongs to the right portion 101R and the dominant hand is the left hand, the CPU 11 identifies the "upper left local area Ra" which corresponds to the intersection of the "right" data row and the "left hand" data column in local area data 133.

[0027] The CPU 11 determines which display elements E from the content displayed in the display area R should be displayed in the local area Ra, and generates image data with the display elements E placed in the local area Ra (step S107). For example, if the notification screen 152 shown in Figure 4 was displayed, the CPU 11 determines the amount of content from the beginning of the email that can be displayed in the local area Ra as the display elements E to be displayed in the local area Ra, and generates image data based on the shape of the display elements E and the local area Ra. The CPU 11 updates the display of the display unit 15 based on the generated image data so that the determined display elements E fit within the local area Ra (step S108). When step S108 is completed, or when the process branches to "NO" in any of steps S103 to S105, the CPU 11 determines whether or not to terminate the display by the display unit 15 (step S109). If the CPU 11 does not want to end the display ("NO" in step S109), it returns to step S103; if it wants to end the display ("YES" in step S109), it terminates the display control process.

[0028] Furthermore, after adjusting the element placement on a certain screen, if a predetermined termination condition is met, the element placement adjustment that displays the display element E in the local area Ra may be terminated, and the display may return to normal using the entire display area R. The termination condition may be, for example, the completion of a touch operation such as a slide operation. Alternatively, the termination condition may be the elapsed of a predetermined waiting time after the completion of a touch operation.

[0029] Next, a modification 1 of the above embodiment will be described. The differences from the above embodiment will be described below. In the above embodiment, the CPU 11 determined that predetermined conditions were met when a touch operation was detected by the touch sensor 171 and performed element placement adjustment. In contrast, in this modification, the CPU 11 determines that predetermined conditions are met when it receives a request to display a specific screen that has been predetermined in advance on the display unit 15 and performs element placement adjustment. The specific screen is, for example, a screen for which element placement adjustment is set in the setting data 132 shown in Figure 11. On such a screen, there is a possibility that a touch operation will be performed on the touch sensor 171. For this reason, by displaying the display element E in advance so that it fits within the local area Ra before the touch operation is performed, the display can be made less likely to be obscured by, for example, a finger F approaching the touch sensor 171 at the timing before the touch operation is performed. For example, as shown in Figure 1, if the electronic clock 1 is equipped with touch sensors 171R and 171B, and the user's dominant hand is the left hand, when the display switches to the notification screen 152, the CPU 11 displays the display element E so that it fits within the upper left local area Ra shown in Figures 6 and 7. After adjusting the element placement, if no touch operation is detected within a predetermined waiting time, the display may be returned to the normal full-screen display. The predetermined conditions in this modified example are one aspect of the "predetermined conditions regarding the detectability of touch operations by the touch sensors."

[0030] Referring to the flowchart in Figure 17, the display control processing performed by the CPU 11 to realize the operation of Modified Example 1 will be explained. Here, it is assumed that the electronic clock 1 is equipped with touch sensors 171R and 171B, and that the user's dominant hand is the left hand. When the display control processing in Figure 17 is started, the CPU 11 refers to the setting data 132 and determines whether or not the element placement adjustment function is set to ON (step S201). If it is determined that the element placement adjustment function is set to OFF ("NO" in step S201), the CPU 11 terminates the display control processing. If it is determined that the element placement adjustment function is set to ON ("YES" in step S201), the CPU 11 refers to the setting data 132 and identifies the user's dominant hand (left hand) (step S202). The CPU 11 repeatedly determines whether or not a request has been made to display a screen different from the currently displayed screen (step S203). This display request is usually made in response to user operation. For example, if a slide operation is performed on the touch sensor 171B while the time display screen 151 is being displayed, the CPU 11 determines whether a request to display the notification screen 152 or the settings menu screen 153 has been made, depending on the direction of the slide operation. If it is determined that no screen display request has been made ("NO" in step S203), the CPU 11 proceeds to step S209. If it is determined that a screen display request has been made ("YES" in step S203), the CPU 11 refers to the setting data 132 and determines whether the requested screen is a screen for adjusting element placement (step S204). If it is determined that it is a screen for adjusting element placement ("YES" in step S204), the CPU 11 identifies the local region Ra corresponding to the dominant hand (step S205). Here, the CPU 11 identifies the upper left local region Ra corresponding to the left hand (see Figures 6 and 7). The CPU 11 determines which display elements E from the requested screen display content should be displayed in the local area Ra, and generates image data with the display elements E positioned in the local area Ra (step S206). Based on the generated image data, the CPU 11 displays the image on the display unit 15 so that the determined display elements E fit within the local area Ra (step S207).On the other hand, if in step S204 it is determined that the screen is not one for adjusting the element layout ("NO" in step S204), the CPU 11 displays the requested screen on the display unit 15 in the normal layout (step S208). When step S207 or S208 is completed, the CPU 11 determines whether or not to terminate the display by the display unit 15 (step S209). If the CPU 11 does not want to terminate the display ("NO" in step S209), it returns to step S203, and if it wants to terminate the display ("YES" in step S209), it terminates the display control process.

[0031] Next, a modification 2 of the above embodiment will be described. The differences from the above embodiment will be described below. In the above embodiment, an example was given in which a local area Ra corresponding to the touch position P is predetermined, but the local area Ra may be determined each time according to the position of the finger F. In this modification, the CPU 11 identifies the position of the finger F (the range in which the finger F is located) based on the detection data of a predetermined sensor, and determines the local area Ra based on the identified position of the finger F. The predetermined sensor may be, for example, a touch sensor 171. In this case, the CPU 11 identifies the position of the finger F based on the touch position P of the touch operation detected by the touch sensor 171 and the user's dominant hand. For example, as shown in Figure 6, if a touch position P corresponding to the center of gravity of the touch sensor 171R is detected in response to the operation of a left-handed user, the CPU 11 identifies the range extending downward and to the left from the touch position P as the position of the finger F, as shown in Figure 6. Then, the CPU 11 determines the local area Ra with the shape shown in Figure 6. Furthermore, if the touch position P is above (+Y direction) the position of finger F in Figure 6, the CPU 11 identifies that the position of finger F is above the position of finger F and determines the shape of the local region Ra to be biased upwards compared to Figure 6. Conversely, if the touch position P is below (-Y direction) the position of finger F in Figure 6, the CPU 11 identifies that the position of finger F is below the position of finger F and determines the shape of the local region Ra to be biased downwards compared to Figure 6. In cases where the touch position P changes, such as during a slide operation, the CPU 11 may identify the change in the position of finger F corresponding to the change in the touch position P and change the shape of the local region Ra according to the change in the position of finger F. This makes it possible to change the shape of the local region Ra in real time according to the change in the touch position P.

[0032] In the modified example 2, the CPU 11 executes the display control process shown in Figure 18. The flowchart in Figure 18 is the same as the flowchart in Figure 16, but with steps S105 and S106 changed to steps S105a and S106a, respectively. The differences from the display control process in Figure 16 will be explained below. In step S104 of the display control process shown in Figure 18, if it is determined that the displayed screen is a screen for adjusting element placement ("YES" in step S104), the CPU 11 identifies the position of finger F using the method described above based on the touch position P of the touch operation detected by the touch sensor 171 (step S105a). The CPU 11 also determines the local area Ra using the method described above based on the identified position of finger F (step S106a). The subsequent steps S107 to S109 are the same as in Figure 16.

[0033] The predetermined sensor used to determine the position of finger F is not limited to the touch sensor 171. For example, the predetermined sensor may be an illuminance sensor or a camera provided on the front or side of the housing 101. In this case, the CPU 11 determines the approach and position of finger F based on the change in illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor or the image captured by the camera, and determines the local area Ra based on the determined position of finger F. When an illuminance sensor or camera is used, the "predetermined conditions regarding the detectability of touch operation by the touch sensor" are met when the approach of finger F is detected. The illuminance sensor or camera and the touch sensor 171 may be used in combination to determine the position of finger F.

[0034] As described above, the electronic clock 1 according to this embodiment comprises a housing 101, a display unit 15 having a display area R exposed from the housing 101, a touch sensor 171 that detects touch operations by a finger F in an area outside the display area R, and a CPU 11 that controls the display operation of the display unit 15. When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of a touch operation by the touch sensor 171 are met, the CPU 11 displays at least a portion of the display content that was displayed on the display unit 15, namely display elements E, so that they fit within a local area Ra of the display area R. The local area Ra is predetermined based on the positional relationship between the finger F and the display area R when the touch operation is performed. As a result, the display elements E are displayed in the local area Ra, which is less likely to overlap with the finger F performing the touch operation, thus reducing the portion of the display content that becomes invisible during the touch operation. Therefore, the user can perform intuitive operations using the touch sensor 171 while appropriately viewing the display elements E.

[0035] Furthermore, when the touch sensor 171 detects a touch operation at a certain touch position P on the housing 101, the CPU 11 determines that predetermined conditions regarding the detection of a touch operation have been met. The CPU 11 displays the display element E so that it fits within a predetermined local area Ra associated with the touch position P. This allows the display to be performed across the entire display area R before a touch operation is performed, and then, once a touch operation is performed, the display can be performed in a manner that is less likely to be obscured by the finger F.

[0036] Furthermore, the CPU 11 selects one local region Ra associated with the touch position P from among several different local regions Ra, and displays the display element E so that it fits within the selected local region Ra. This allows the CPU to select a local region Ra that is less likely to overlap with the finger F, depending on the touch position P, and display the display element E in that local region Ra. Therefore, the display element E that becomes invisible when a touch operation is being performed can be reduced more effectively.

[0037] Furthermore, a local region Ra is associated with the touch position P, which does not include at least a portion of the proximity region Rb within the display area R that is adjacent to the touch position P. The proximity region Rb is easily obscured by the finger F when a touch operation is performed. Therefore, by displaying the display element E in the local region Ra that does not include at least a portion of the proximity region Rb, the display element E that becomes invisible when a touch operation is performed can be reduced more effectively.

[0038] Furthermore, when the housing 101 is divided into an upper portion 101T, a lower portion 101B, a left portion 101L, and a right portion 101R when viewed from a direction directly facing the display area R, the local area Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the right portion 101R includes at least the portion of the display area R adjacent to the boundary point Q on the boundary between the left portion 101L and the upper portion 101T. Similarly, the local area Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the left portion 101L includes at least the portion of the display area R adjacent to the boundary point Q on the boundary between the right portion 101R and the upper portion 101T. Finally, the local area Ra associated with the touch position P belonging to the upper portion 101T includes at least the portion of the display area R adjacent to the boundary point Q corresponding to the center of the lower portion 101B. This makes it possible to more effectively reduce the display elements E that become invisible when a touch operation is detected at a touch position P belonging to the right portion 101R, the left portion 101L, and the upper portion 101T.

[0039] Furthermore, the distance d2 from the centroid G2 of the local region Ra associated with the touch position P to the touch position P is greater than the distance d1 from the centroid G1 of the display region R to the touch position P. This makes it less likely for the finger F performing the touch operation to overlap with the local region Ra.

[0040] Furthermore, in the modified example 1, when the CPU 11 receives a request to display a predetermined specific screen on the display unit 15, it determines that predetermined conditions regarding the detectability of touch operations have been met. This allows the display element E to be displayed in advance so that it fits within the local area Ra before a touch operation is performed. Therefore, even at the timing before a touch operation is performed, the display is less likely to be obscured by, for example, a finger F approaching the touch sensor 171.

[0041] Furthermore, the CPU 11 identifies the user's dominant hand in a predetermined manner when certain conditions are met. The CPU 11 selects one local region Ra corresponding to the identified dominant hand from among several different local regions Ra, and displays the display element E so that it fits within the selected local region Ra. This allows the display element E to be displayed in a local region Ra that is less likely to overlap with the finger F performing the touch operation, depending on the dominant hand. Therefore, the display element E that becomes invisible when a touch operation is being performed can be reduced more effectively.

[0042] Furthermore, the electronic clock 1 according to the modified example 2 comprises a housing 101, a display unit 15 having a display area R exposed from the housing 101, a touch sensor 171 that detects touch operations by a finger F in an area outside the display area R, and a CPU 11 that controls the display operation of the display unit 15. When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of a touch operation by the touch sensor 171 are met, the CPU 11 identifies the position of the finger F based on the detection data from the predetermined sensor, determines a local area Ra within the display area R based on the identified position of the finger F, and displays at least a portion of the display content that was displayed on the display unit 15, namely the display elements E, so that they fit within the local area Ra. As a result, the display elements E are displayed in a local area Ra with a shape corresponding to the position of the finger F performing the touch operation, so that the portion of the display content that becomes invisible during the touch operation can be more effectively reduced. It is also possible to change the local area Ra in real time according to changes in the position of the finger F. Therefore, the user can perform intuitive operations using the touch sensor 171 while appropriately viewing the display elements E.

[0043] Furthermore, the CPU 11 may extract some of the elements from among the multiple elements included in the display content, based on a predetermined priority for each element, as display elements E, and display the extracted display elements E so that they fit within the local region Ra. This makes it possible to display display elements E that are likely to be desired by the user within the local region Ra, even if the displayable range is limited to the local region Ra.

[0044] Furthermore, the touch sensor 171 is positioned to detect touch operations on at least one of the upper portion 101T, left portion 101L, and right portion 101R of the housing 101. When a touch operation is performed on the touch sensor 171 positioned in this way, the display area R is easily obscured by the finger F. However, by adjusting the element arrangement, it is possible to reduce the portion of the display content that becomes invisible during touch operation.

[0045] Furthermore, according to the display method of this embodiment, the CPU 11 performs the above processing, thereby reducing the portion of the display content that becomes invisible during touch operation. In addition, the program 131 of this embodiment causes the CPU 11 to perform the above processing. This reduces the portion of the display content that becomes invisible during touch operation.

[0046] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible. For example, although an electronic clock 1 was given as an example of an electronic device, it is not limited to this. The electronic device can be any device that has a display unit and a touch sensor. For example, the electronic device may be a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a wearable device other than a wristwatch.

[0047] Furthermore, in the remaining area of ​​the display area R, excluding the local area Ra, a display separate from the display in the local area Ra may be shown. For example, in the remaining area, a display guiding the sliding operation by the touch sensor 171R (such as an up / down arrow display) may be shown.

[0048] Furthermore, it is not always necessary to identify the user's dominant hand, and the local region Ra may be selected without regard to handedness. For example, if a touch operation is detected by the touch sensor 171T in the upper portion 101T, the lower half of the display region R, divided into upper and lower halves, may be designated as the local region Ra, regardless of handedness. Also, regardless of whether a touch operation is performed on any of the touch sensors 171 (up, down, left, or right), the proximity region Rb of the display region R, which is close to the touch sensor 171, may be obscured by the finger F, so the region excluding the proximity region Rb may be designated as the local region Ra. In addition, the user's dominant hand may be estimated based on detection data from sensors (not shown) provided by the electronic clock 1. For example, the electronic clock 1 may be equipped with an accelerometer, and the dominant hand (the hand not wearing the electronic clock 1) may be estimated based on the arm swing pattern identified from the accelerometer detection data. Alternatively, an illuminance sensor may be provided on the display side of the electronic clock 1 (for example, the lower part 101B of the housing 101), and the dominant hand (the hand performing the touch operation) may be estimated based on the change in illuminance when a touch operation is performed on the touch sensor 171.

[0049] Furthermore, while the above description discloses an example in which the flash memory of the storage unit 13 is used as a computer-readable medium for the program according to the present invention, the invention is not limited to this example. Other computer-readable mediums that can be used include information recording media such as HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), SSDs (Solid State Drives), and CD-ROMs. In addition, a carrier wave can also be used as a medium for providing program data according to the present invention via a communication line.

[0050] Furthermore, the detailed configuration and operation of each component of the electronic clock 1 in the above embodiments can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Although embodiments of the present invention have been described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but includes the scope of the invention as described in the claims and its equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1...Electronic clock (electronic device), 11...CPU (control unit), 15...Display unit, 101...Housing, 171...Touch sensor, E...Display element, P...Touch position, R...Display area, Ra...Local area, Rb...Nearby area

Claims

1. The casing and A display unit having a display area exposed from the housing, A touch sensor that detects touch operations performed by an operating means in an area outside the aforementioned display area, A control unit that controls the display operation of the display unit, Equipped with, When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of the touch operation by the touch sensor are met, the control unit displays at least a portion of the display content that was displayed on the display unit, such that it fits within a local area of ​​the display area, which is predetermined based on the positional relationship between the operating means and the display area when the touch operation is performed. electronic equipment.

2. The control unit, When the touch sensor detects the touch operation at a certain touch position on the housing, it determines that a predetermined condition regarding the detection of the touch operation has been met. The display element is displayed so as to fit within the local area that is predetermined and associated with the touch position. The electronic device according to claim 1.

3. The control unit selects one local region from among a plurality of different local regions that is associated with the touch position, and displays the display element so that it fits within the selected local region. The electronic device according to claim 2.

4. The touch position is associated with the local region which does not include at least a portion of the adjacent region within the display area that is close to the touch position. The electronic device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. When the housing is divided into an upper portion, a lower portion, a left portion, and a right portion when viewed from a direction directly facing the display area, The local region associated with the touch position belonging to the right portion includes at least the portion of the display area adjacent to the boundary between the left portion and the upper portion. The local region associated with the touch position belonging to the left portion includes at least the portion of the display area adjacent to the boundary between the right portion and the upper portion. The local region associated with the touch position belonging to the upper portion includes at least the portion of the display area adjacent to the central position of the lower portion. The electronic device according to claim 2 or 3.

6. The distance from the center of gravity of the local region associated with the touch position to the touch position is greater than the distance from the center of gravity of the display region to the touch position. The electronic device according to claim 2 or 3.

7. The control unit determines that predetermined conditions regarding the detectability of the touch operation have been met when it receives a request to display a specific screen predetermined on the display unit. The electronic device according to claim 1.

8. The control unit, When the aforementioned predetermined conditions are met, the user's dominant hand is identified by a predetermined method. From among a plurality of distinct local regions, one local region corresponding to the identified dominant hand is selected, and the display elements are displayed so as to fit within the selected local region. The electronic device according to claim 1.

9. The casing and A display unit having a display area exposed from the housing, A touch sensor that detects touch operations performed by an operating means in an area outside the aforementioned display area, A control unit that controls the display operation of the display unit, Equipped with, When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of the touch operation by the touch sensor are met, the control unit identifies the position of the operating means based on the detection data from the predetermined sensor, determines a local area within the display area based on the identified position of the operating means, and displays at least a portion of the display content that was displayed on the display unit so as to fit within the local area. electronic equipment.

10. The control unit extracts a portion of the elements from among the elements included in the display content, based on a predetermined priority for each of the elements, as the display elements, and displays the extracted display elements so that they fit within the local area. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 9.

11. The touch sensor is positioned to detect the touch operation on at least one of the upper, lower, left, and right portions when the housing is divided into an upper portion, a lower portion, a left portion, and a right portion when viewed from a direction facing the display area. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 9.

12. A display method performed by a computer of an electronic device comprising a housing, a display unit having a display area exposed from the housing, and a touch sensor that detects touch operations by an operating means on an area outside the display area, When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of the touch operation by the touch sensor are met, at least a portion of the display content displayed on the display unit is displayed in a local area within the display area, which is predetermined based on the positional relationship between the operating means and the display area when the touch operation is performed. Display method.

13. A computer for an electronic device comprising a housing, a display unit having a display area exposed from the housing, and a touch sensor that detects touch operations performed by an operating means on an area outside the display area, When predetermined conditions regarding the detection or possibility of detection of the touch operation by the touch sensor are met, a process is performed to display at least a portion of the display content that was displayed on the display unit, such that it fits within a local area of ​​the display area, which is predetermined based on the positional relationship between the operating means and the display area when the touch operation is performed. A program that executes the command.

Images