How to input kana characters

Abstract

To provide a method that enables further fast and precise KANA character input using a gaming controller.SOLUTION: Right and left joysticks are caused to correspond to right and left regions of a display screen, respectively. All of 10 consonants in 50-character KANA syllabary are arranged in cells of a first pie menu in a 3 by 3 matrix shape displayed in the region of the display screen at one side, and a vowel corresponding to the consonant selected from the first pie menu is arranged in the cell of a second pie menu in a cross shape with 3 vertical rows and 3 horizontal rows displayed in the region of the display screen at the other side. In addition to a tilted position of each joystick, a standing-upright position in a non-operated state and a position pushed down from the non-operated state are also utilized for the selection of the consonant and the vowel. With the consonant being selected by the operation of the joystick corresponding to the first pie menu, after the vowel corresponding to the second pie menu is selected, a corresponding KANA character is input by causing the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu to be in the non-operated state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a kana character input method, and more particularly to a method for inputting kana characters using a game controller used in a home game machine. [Background technology]

[0002] A game controller used in a home game console is, for example, equipped with a pair of left and right joysticks and a plurality of buttons, and is designed as an input device suitable for operating a game.

[0003] Therefore, when inputting Japanese characters on a home game console, it was necessary to use a hardware keyboard connected to the game console or to operate a software keyboard displayed on the display screen using a game controller, which made inputting Japanese characters extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

[0004] Therefore, in the prior art, several methods have been proposed for easily and quickly inputting Japanese characters using a game controller.

[0005] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a method for inputting kana characters using a game controller equipped with a pair of joysticks, one on each side. According to this method, a pie menu is displayed on a display screen, consisting of an inner ring-shaped area and an outer ring-shaped area that share a common center and are each divided into eight equal parts along their circumference. The 50 consonants are arranged in order in the eight parts of the outer ring-shaped area, and the vowels corresponding to the consonants selected from the outer ring-shaped area are arranged in order in the eight parts of the inner ring-shaped area.

[0006] Furthermore, the outer ring-shaped area of ​​the pie menu corresponds to the left joystick, while the inner ring-shaped area of ​​the pie menu corresponds to the right joystick. By tilting the left joystick in eight directions (up / down, left / right, and any intermediate directions), the consonants arranged in the outer ring-shaped area can be selected, and by tilting the right joystick in eight directions (up / down, left / right, and any intermediate directions), the vowels arranged in the inner ring-shaped area can be selected.

[0007] In this way, the left joystick is tilted to select a consonant from the outer ring-shaped area of ​​the pie menu, and the right joystick is tilted to select a vowel from the inner ring-shaped area of ​​the pie menu, and the corresponding kana character is entered.

[0008] Non-patent document 1 also describes a method for inputting kana characters using a game controller equipped with a pair of joysticks, one on each side. According to this method, the left area of ​​the display screen corresponds to the left joystick, while the right area of ​​the display screen corresponds to the right joystick.

[0009] Furthermore, one semicircular pie menu, convex upwards and divided into five equal parts along the circumference, is displayed in each of the upper left and upper right regions of the display screen, with the 50 Japanese consonants "a," "ka," "sa," "ta," and "na" arranged in order in the five parts of the upper left pie menu, and the 50 Japanese consonants "ha," "ma," "ya," "ra," and "wa" arranged in order in the five parts of the upper right pie menu.

[0010] In addition, one downward-convex semicircular pie menu divided into five equal parts along the circumference is displayed in each of the lower left and lower right areas of the display screen, and vowels corresponding to the consonant selected in the upper left pie menu are arranged in order in the five parts of the lower right pie menu, and vowels corresponding to the consonant selected from the upper right pie menu are arranged in order in the five parts of the lower left pie menu.

[0011] Depending on the tilt angle of the left joystick, it is possible to select either the consonants arranged in the upper left pie menu or the vowels arranged in the lower left pie menu, while depending on the tilt angle of the right joystick, it is possible to select either the consonants arranged in the upper right pie menu or the vowels arranged in the lower right pie menu.

[0012] In this way, while tilting one joystick to select a consonant from the pie menu on the upper left or upper right side, tilt the other joystick to select a vowel from the pie menu on the lower right or lower left side, and enter the corresponding kana character.

[0013] However, the former method has the problem that users tend to misunderstand the correspondence between the left and right joysticks and the inner and outer ring-shaped areas, resulting in frequent input errors.

[0014] In the latter case, each joystick is used to select both consonants and vowels, which makes it somewhat difficult to use. Also, since there is a pie menu divided into 10 sections radially from each joystick, it is necessary to tilt the joystick in 10 directions. However, in this case, the difference in angle between adjacent tilt directions is relatively small, which means that input errors may occur when inputting at high speed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0015] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-268818 [Non-Patent Document 1] K. Go, H. Konishi, and Y. Matsuura. IToNe: A Japanese Text Input Method for a Dual Joystick Game Controller. In CHI '08 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA '08, pp.3141-3146, 2008. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0016] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for inputting kana characters more quickly and accurately using a game controller. [Means for solving the problem]

[0017] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, there is provided a method for inputting kana characters into a computer using a game controller having a pair of left and right joysticks and a plurality of buttons, the method comprising: (1) making each of the pair of left and right joysticks stand up in a non-operated state and capable of being pressed in from the non-operated state; the left joystick of the pair of left and right joysticks corresponds to a left region of a screen of a display of the computer, while the right joystick of the pair of left and right joysticks corresponds to a right region of the screen of the display; (2) displaying a first pie menu in a 3×3 matrix in one of the left and right regions of the screen of the display, while displaying a second pie menu in a cross shape with three columns and three rows in the other of the left and right regions; arranging each of the nine consonants of the Japanese syllabary in each square of the first pie menu; and arranging the remaining one consonant of the Japanese syllabary together with other consonants in a central square of the first pie menu; while displaying a vowel corresponding to the consonant selected from the first pie menu in the second pie menu; (3) By placing the joystick corresponding to the first pie menu in the no-operation state, one of the consonants arranged in the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, and by pressing the joystick from the no-operation state, the other consonant arranged in the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, and by tilting the joystick in eight directions, including up and down, left and right, and intermediate directions, each of the consonants arranged in eight squares surrounding the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, while By pressing the joystick corresponding to the pie menu from the non-operated state, it is possible to select a vowel arranged in the central square of the second pie menu, and by tilting the joystick in four directions, up, down, left, and right, it is possible to select each of the vowels arranged in four squares adjacent to the outer side of the central square of the second pie menu; (4) in a state where a consonant is selected from the first pie menu by operating the joystick corresponding to the first pie menu, it is possible to select a vowel by operating the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu,A method is provided in which the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu is placed in the no-operation state, thereby inputting the corresponding kana character.

[0018] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in step (2), the consonants "a," "ka," "sa," "ta," "na," "ha," "ma," "ya," and "ra" of the Japanese alphabet are arranged in this order in the squares of the first pie menu, with the consonant "na" located in the center square, the consonant "wa" of the Japanese alphabet is arranged in the center square together with the consonant "na," and the leading vowel of the corresponding vowels is arranged in the center square of the second pie menu.

[0019] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in step (4), each time a consonant or vowel is selected from the first or second pie menu by using a joystick corresponding to the first or second pie menu, the selected consonant or vowel character is enlarged and / or displayed in reverse video or in a different color.

[0020] According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in step (4), each time a consonant and a vowel are selected from the first and second pie menus by a joystick corresponding to the first and second pie menus, the associated joystick is vibrated.

[0021] According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in step (4), after inputting the kana characters, by repeatedly pressing one of the plurality of buttons on the game controller, the kana characters are successively converted to voiced consonants, semi-voiced consonants, discarded kana, and unvoiced consonants.

[0022] According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in step (4), after inputting the kana characters, the input of the kana characters is cancelled by pressing one of the plurality of buttons on the game controller. [Effects of the Invention]

[0023] According to the present invention, the left and right joysticks correspond to the left and right areas of the display screen, respectively, and not only the tilt position of each joystick but also the upright position in the non-operated state and the position pressed from the non-operated state are used to select the consonants and vowels of the Japanese alphabet. All 10 consonants of the Japanese alphabet are arranged in the squares of a first pie menu in a 3x3 matrix displayed on one side of the display screen, and the vowels corresponding to the consonants selected from the first pie menu are arranged in the squares of a second pie menu in a cross shape of 3 columns and 3 rows displayed on the other side of the display screen.

[0024] By placing the joystick corresponding to the first pie menu in a non-operated state, one of the consonants arranged in the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, and by pressing the joystick from the non-operated state, the other consonant arranged in the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, and by tilting the joystick in eight directions, forward / backward, left / right, and intermediate directions, each of the consonants arranged in the eight squares surrounding the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, while by pressing the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu from a non-operated state, the vowel arranged in the central square of the second pie menu can be selected, and by tilting the joystick in four directions, up / down and left / right, each of the vowels arranged in the second pie menu can be selected.

[0025] Then, in a state where a vowel is selected by operating the joystick corresponding to the first pie menu, a vowel is selected by operating the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu, and then the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu is left in an inoperative state, thereby inputting the corresponding kana character.

[0026] In this way, the left and right joysticks correspond to the left and right areas of the display, respectively, the pie menu for selecting consonants and the pie menu for selecting vowels are displayed on one side and the other side of the display screen, respectively, and one joystick is exclusively used for selecting consonants while the other joystick is exclusively used for selecting vowels, so that the user can input kana characters quickly and accurately without confusing left and right.

[0027] Furthermore, by dividing the pie menu into eight or four parts in the radial direction around the raised joystick and allowing the joystick to be tilted in eight or four directions, the angle between adjacent tilt directions can be made larger than before, thereby more reliably preventing input errors when entering kana characters.

[0028] In addition, by making the arrangement of consonants and vowels in the first and second pie menus correspond to the pie menus for flick input using the flick keyboards of widely used smartphones, users can use their experience with flick input to become familiar with the kana character input method of the present invention in an extremely short time, and be able to input kana characters more quickly and accurately. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0029] [Figure 1] 1 is a flow diagram of a kana character input method according to the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating a home game machine to which a kana character input method according to the present invention is applied; [Figure 3] The figures show specific examples of the first and second pie menus displayed on the display screen, where (A) shows the state when the left and right joysticks of the game controller are not operated (the consonant "na" is selected from the first pie menu), (B) shows the state in (A) where the vowel "ni" has been selected in the second pie menu, and (C) shows the state in which the consonant "wa" has been selected from the first pie menu. [Figure 4]10 is a graph comparing the input speed of the kana character input method according to the present invention with that of the conventional method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0030] Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be described based on a preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a kana character input method according to one embodiment of the present invention. The present invention is a method for inputting kana characters into a computer using a game controller equipped with a pair of left and right joysticks and a plurality of buttons.

[0031] In this embodiment, the computer is a home game console, and as shown in Figure 2, the game console is composed of a game console main body 1, a display 2 connected to the game console main body 1, and a game controller 3 connected (wirelessly) to the game console main body 1.

[0032] The game controller 3 includes a pair of left and right joysticks 4, 5, buttons 8a to 8d, a cross key 9, an L button 10a and an R button 10b on the left and right sides, and the like.

[0033] According to the present invention, each of the pair of left and right joysticks 4, 5 can be made to stand up when not in operation and can be pressed in from the non-operation state, with the left joystick 5 corresponding to the left area of ​​the screen of the computer display 2 and the right joystick 4 corresponding to the right area of ​​the screen of the display 2 (S1 in FIG. 1).

[0034] Then, a first pie menu in the form of a 3x3 matrix is ​​displayed in one of the left and right regions of the screen of display 2, while a second pie menu in the form of a cross with three columns and three rows is displayed in the other of the left and right regions, with each of the nine consonants of the Japanese syllabary arranged in each square of the first pie menu, and the remaining one consonant of the Japanese syllabary together with other consonants arranged in the central square of the first pie menu, while the vowels corresponding to the consonant selected from the first pie menu are arranged in the second pie menu (S2 in Figure 1).

[0035] Fig. 3 shows specific examples of the first and second pie menus displayed on the display screen. Fig. 3(A) shows the state when the left and right joysticks 4, 5 of the game controller 3 are not operated (the consonant "na" is selected from the first pie menu), Fig. 3(B) shows the state in Fig. 3(A) where the vowel "ni" has been selected in the second pie menu, and Fig. 3(C) shows the state where the consonant "wa" has been selected from the first pie menu.

[0036] As shown in FIGS. 3(A) to 3(C), in this embodiment, a first pie menu 6 is displayed in the right area of ​​the display screen, and a second pie menu 7 is displayed in the left area of ​​the display screen.

[0037] Then, the 50 Japanese consonants "a," "ka," "sa," "ta," "na," "ha," "ma," "ya," and "ra" are arranged in that order in the squares of the first pie menu 6, with the consonant "na" located in the center square, and the 50 Japanese consonant "wa" is arranged in the center square together with the consonant "na."

[0038] With regard to the second pie menu 7, for the vowels corresponding to the consonants "a," "ka," "sa," "ta," "na," "ha," "ma," "ya," and "ra," the first vowel of the corresponding vowels is arranged in the central square of the second pie menu 7, and the remaining four vowels are arranged in order in the four squares adjacent to the outside of the central square, as shown in FIG. 3(A), but for the consonant "wa," the vowel "wa" is arranged in the central square of the second pie menu 7, and the vowel "wo," the long vowel mark "-," the vowel "n," and the mark "~" are arranged in order in the four squares adjacent to the outside of the central square, as shown in FIG. 3(C).

[0039] In FIG. 3(A), the consonant "na" is selected from the first pie menu 6 because, in the present invention, when the joystick (right joystick) 4 corresponding to the first pie menu 6 is in an unoperated state, the consonant "na" in the center square is selected from the first pie menu (this will be described later).

[0040] According to the present invention, next, by putting the joystick (right joystick) 4 corresponding to the first pie menu 6 into a non-operated state, one of the consonants arranged in the central square of the first pie menu 6 (the consonant "na" in the illustrated example) can be selected, and by pressing the right joystick 4 from the non-operated state, the other consonant arranged in the central square of the first pie menu 6 (the consonant "wa" in the illustrated example) can be selected, and by tilting the right joystick 4 in eight directions, including up and down, left and right, and intermediate directions, each of the consonants arranged in the eight squares surrounding the central square of the first pie menu 6 can be selected. In the illustrated example, the consonants "a," "ka," "sa," "ta," "ha," "ma," "ya," and "ra" can be selected, while by pressing the joystick (left joystick) 5 corresponding to the second pie menu 7 from an unoperated state, the vowels arranged in the central square of the second pie menu 7 (in the illustrated example, the vowel "na") can be selected, and by tilting the left joystick 5 in four directions, up, down, left, and right, each of the vowels arranged in the four squares adjacent to the outer side of the central square of the second pie menu 7 (the vowels "ni," "nu," "ne," and "no") can be selected (S3 in FIG. 1).

[0041] In this way, after selecting a consonant from the first pie menu 6 by operating the right joystick 4 and then selecting a vowel by operating the left joystick 5 (for example, after selecting the consonant "na" and then the vowel "ni" as shown in Figure 3(B)), the corresponding kana character (the kana character "ni" in Figure 3(B)) is input by leaving the left joystick 5 in a non-operated state (S4 in Figure 1).

[0042] In this embodiment, each time a consonant or vowel is selected from the first and second pie menus 6 and 7 using the left joystick 5 and right joystick 4, the characters of the selected consonant or vowel change color (from gray to black) and are enlarged.

[0043] In a preferred embodiment, each time a consonant or vowel is selected from the first and second pie menus 6, 7 by the left joystick 5 and right joystick 4, the relevant joystick 4, 5 is vibrated in step S4.

[0044] In addition, in step S4, after inputting the kana characters, one of the multiple buttons on the game controller 3 (for example, the L button 10a or the R button 10b) may be repeatedly pressed to sequentially convert the kana characters to voiced consonants, semi-voiced consonants, discarded kana, and unvoiced consonants.

[0045] Furthermore, in step S4, after inputting the kana characters, the input of the kana characters may be cancelled by pressing one of the buttons on the game controller 3 (for example, button 8a or 8d).

[0046] [experiment] The character input speed (CPM: Characters Per Minute) and total error rate of the kana character input method of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "JoyFlick") and the conventional kana character input method were measured and compared. As the conventional method, the method described in Non-Patent Document 1 (hereinafter referred to as "IToNe") was adopted.

[0047] The participants were nine men aged between 21 and 27. Five of the nine were experts in smartphone flick input, while the remaining four were inexperienced. Furthermore, none of the participants had experience using "JoyFlick" or "IToNe." In the experiment, a Nintendo Switch Pro controller was used as the game controller, and the JoyFlick and IToNe programs were installed on a MacBook Pro (macOS 10.15.6) using Rust.

[0048] In one experimental session, the participants were first asked to input practice sentences consisting of 28 short sentences with a total of 289 characters, and the input speed and total error rate were measured for each participant and for each short sentence.After completing the input of the practice sentences, the participants were asked to input task sentences consisting of 24 short sentences with a total of 167 characters (actual input), and the input speed and total error rate were measured for each participant and for each short sentence.

[0049] Here, the total error rate is defined by the following equation: Total error rate = 100% x (number of mistyped characters remaining uncorrected + number of mistyped characters corrected) / (number of correctly entered characters + number of mistyped characters remaining uncorrected + number of mistyped characters corrected) In addition, the practice sentences and task sentences were short, meaningful sentences consisting of the 50 sounds, voiced consonants, semi-voiced consonants, discarded kana, and long vowel marks, and participants were asked to type them as quickly and accurately as possible.

[0050] Each participant completed this experimental session twice for both JoyFlick and IToNe, with a break of at least five minutes between sessions.

[0051] (input speed) For each of "JoyFlick" and "IToNe," we calculated the average measured input speed for each short sentence, and the results are shown in the graph in Figure 4. In the graph in Figure 4, the vertical axis represents input speed (CPM), and the horizontal axis represents the order in which the short sentences were presented to the participants. In the graph in Figure 4, the upper curve is an approximation curve of the average input speed for "JoyFlick," and the lower curve is an approximation curve of the average input speed for "IToNe." In addition, for actual input, the average input speed for "JoyFlick" was 36 CPM (standard deviation = 9.0 CPM), while the average input speed for "IToNe" was 23 CPM (standard deviation = 5.7 CPM).

[0052] (Total error rate) The average total error rate for "JoyFlick" was 6.9% (standard deviation = 3.1%), while the average total error rate for "IToNe" was 11% (standard deviation = 4.3%).

[0053] The results of this experiment showed that for beginners of both "JoyFlick" and "IToNe," "JoyFlick" is a method that allows users to input kana characters faster and more accurately than "IToNe."

[0054] According to the present invention, the left and right joysticks 4, 5 correspond to the left and right areas of the display 2, respectively, and the consonant selection pie menu (first pie menu 6) and the vowel selection pie menu (second pie menu) 7 are displayed on the right and left sides of the display screen, respectively. The right joystick 4 is used exclusively for selecting consonants, while the left joystick 5 is used exclusively for selecting vowels, so that the user can input kana characters quickly and accurately without confusing left and right.

[0055] Furthermore, by dividing the pie menus 6 and 7 into eight or four parts centered on the upright joysticks 4 and 5, the joysticks 4 and 5 can be tilted in eight or four directions, and the angle between adjacent tilt directions can be made larger than before, thereby more reliably preventing input errors in kana characters.

[0056] In addition, if the arrangement of consonants and vowels in the first and second pie menus 4 and 5 is made to correspond to the pie menus for flick input using the flick keyboards of widely used smartphones, users can use their experience with flick input to become familiar with the method of the present invention in an extremely short time, and will be able to input kana characters more quickly and accurately.

[0057] Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the configuration of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and it goes without saying that a person skilled in the art can devise various modifications within the scope of the matters described in the claims of this application. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 1 Game console 2. Display 3. Game Controller 4 Right Joystick 5 Left Joystick 6. First Pie Menu 7 Second Pie Menu 8a~8d buttons 9 D-pad 10a L button 10b R button

Claims

1. A method for inputting kana characters into a computer using a game controller equipped with a pair of joysticks and multiple buttons that can stand up in a non-operational state and be pressed from the non-operational state, wherein the computer executes the following steps (1) to (4): (1) The left joystick of the pair of left and right joysticks corresponds to a left area of ​​a screen of the display of the computer, while the right joystick of the pair of left and right joysticks corresponds to a right area of ​​the screen of the display; (2) A first pie menu in a 3×3 matrix is ​​displayed in one of the left and right regions of the screen of the display, while a second pie menu in a cross shape with three columns and three rows is displayed in the other of the left and right regions, with each of the nine consonants of the Japanese syllabary arranged in each square of the first pie menu, and the remaining one consonant of the Japanese syllabary together with other consonants arranged in the central square of the first pie menu, while a vowel corresponding to the consonant selected from the first pie menu is arranged in the second pie menu; (3) By placing the joystick corresponding to the first pie menu in the no-operation state, one of the consonants arranged in the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, and by pressing the joystick from the no-operation state, the other of the consonants arranged in the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, and by tilting the joystick in eight directions, including up and down, left and right, and intermediate directions, each of the consonants arranged in eight squares surrounding the central square of the first pie menu can be selected, By pressing the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu from the no-operation state, a vowel arranged in the central square of the second pie menu can be selected, and by tilting the joystick in four directions, i.e., up, down, left, and right, each vowel arranged in four squares adjacent to the outer side of the central square of the second pie menu can be selected; (4) A method characterized by operating a joystick corresponding to the first pie menu to select a consonant from the first pie menu, operating a joystick corresponding to the second pie menu to select a vowel, and then leaving the joystick corresponding to the second pie menu in the non-operated state to input the corresponding kana character.

2. The method of claim 1, characterized in that in step (2), the 50 Japanese syllable consonants "a," "ka," "sa," "ta," "na," "ha," "ma," "ya," and "ra" are arranged in this order in the squares of the first pie menu, with the consonant "na" located in the central square, the 50 Japanese syllable consonant "wa" is arranged in the central square together with the consonant "na," and the first vowel of the corresponding vowels is arranged in the central square of the second pie menu.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that in step (4), each time a consonant and a vowel are selected from the first and second pie menus using a joystick corresponding to the first and second pie menus, the characters of the selected consonant and vowel are enlarged and / or displayed in reverse or in a different color.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that in step (4), each time a consonant and a vowel are selected from the first and second pie menus by a joystick corresponding to the first and second pie menus, the relevant joystick is vibrated.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that in step (4), after inputting the kana characters, one of the plurality of buttons on the game controller is repeatedly pressed to sequentially convert the kana characters to voiced consonants, semi-voiced consonants, discarded kana, and unvoiced consonants.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that in step (4), after inputting the kana character, the input of the kana character is canceled by pressing one of the multiple buttons on the game controller.

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