Information processing device, information processing method, and information processing program

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus which enables accurate touch operation to some extent even when a surface of a touch panel is sweating.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus includes: a touch panel for receiving an operation instruction from a user; detection means for detecting the operation instruction as a touch event; determination means which determines whether the touch panel is sweating or not on the basis of the touch event; and switching means which switches detection sensitivity of the touch panel to a predetermined sensitivity lower than a reference sensitivity while the touch panel is determined to be sweating.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program. [Background technology]

[0002] A device that combines a display device and an input device, called a touch panel or touchscreen, is known. One example of a touch panel detection method is the capacitive type. Capacitive touch panels detect the touch position by acquiring the slight change in capacitance that occurs between the finger and the touch panel. However, since capacitance can also change due to water droplets, false detections may occur if water droplets are present on the surface.

[0003] For this reason, technologies have been proposed to prevent false detections caused by water droplets. For example, technologies have been proposed that prohibit touch operation when water is detected (Patent Documents 1 and 2), and technologies that remove water droplets from touch panels (Patent Document 3). [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-123740 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-216053 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-180745 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] One example of an information processing device that utilizes a touch panel is a mobile information terminal such as a smartphone, and some of these devices are known to be dustproof and waterproof. The technology disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 restricts the use of the touch panel when it detects that water droplets are attached to the surface. However, restricting the use of the touch panel limits the environment in which the device can be operated, even though the information processing device itself is dustproof and waterproof. Furthermore, as in Patent Document 3, removing water droplets from the touch panel requires a separate actuator to vibrate the touch panel.

[0006] One aspect of the disclosed technology aims to provide an information processing device that enables a certain degree of accurate touch operation even when water droplets are present on the surface of the touch panel. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One aspect of disclosure technology is exemplified by the following information processing device: A touch panel that accepts user instructions, A detection means for detecting the aforementioned operation instruction as a touch event, A determination means that determines whether or not the touch panel is wet based on the aforementioned touch event, A switching means that, while the touch panel is determined to be wet, switches the detection sensitivity of the touch panel to a predetermined sensitivity lower than the reference sensitivity, An information processing device equipped with such a feature. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the disclosed technology, an information processing device can be provided that enables a certain degree of accurate touch operation even when water droplets are present on the surface of the touch panel. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 shows an example of an information processing device equipped with a touch panel. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram when a finger touches the touch panel. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the processing of the touch IC. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the processing of the touch panel controller. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the sensitivity change processing of the entire touch panel. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a scatter diagram of touch events when dry and when wet with water. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a scatter diagram of touch events when dry and when wet with water with parameters deformed. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a threshold value for determining whether it is a water-wet touch.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0010] <EMBODIMENT> The configuration of the embodiment shown below is an example, and the disclosed technology is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment.

[0011] (Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an information processing apparatus including a touch panel. The information processing apparatus 1 has a display unit such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display provided on most of its surface corresponding thereto, and a touch panel 11 is incorporated in the display unit. Therefore, the user can operate by touching the touch panel with a finger while visually recognizing the display unit. The information processing apparatus 1 includes a high-performance processor, a battery, a communication unit, etc. inside its housing on the back side of the touch panel 11. By using the high-performance processor and the communication unit of the information processing apparatus 1, the user can perform information communication with the outside such as a call. In addition, the battery included in the information processing apparatus 1 has a high weight energy density, and the user can carry and use the information processing apparatus 1 even in a place where there is no power supply. The information processing apparatus 1 according to the present disclosure is, as an example, a so-called smartphone or a tablet computer. Of course, the information processing apparatus 1 may be a personal computer or other portable information processing terminals.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus 1 includes a processor 10, a touch panel 11, a touch panel controller 12, a sensor 13, a display driver 14, a memory 15, a storage 16, a communication unit <END> 17, an audio processing unit 18, and a battery 19. The processor 10 is a SoC (System on a Chip) including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) having one or more arithmetic cores, a sound controller, a memory controller, a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) having one or more graphic cores, a communication modem, etc., and controls the functions of the information processing apparatus 1. Note that a dedicated semiconductor chip that performs part or all of the functions of the processor 10 may be used.

[0013] The touch panel 11 comprises an input unit 11A and a display unit 11B. The display unit 11B is a display that shows information on the touch panel 11, and examples include liquid crystal displays and organic EL displays. The input unit 11A acquires user operations on the touch panel 11. In this embodiment, a capacitive method is used as the method for acquiring user operations by the input unit 11A. In one example of a capacitive touch panel, strip-shaped transparent electrodes are arranged in a grid, a signal is applied to the electrodes in one direction, the signal is measured in the intersecting direction, and the capacitance at the intersection is measured. When a grounded conductor, such as a human finger, approaches the intersection, the electric field near the intersection decreases. The capacitive touch panel can detect operations by measuring this change in the electric field.

[0014] The touch panel controller 12 is a group of semiconductor chips that control the sensitivity of the touch panel 11 and acquire user input. The touch panel controller 12 includes a touch IC 12A and a control IC 12B. The touch IC 12A is a semiconductor chip located in close proximity to the touch panel 11 and controls the weak current supplied to the touch panel 11 and the touch input acquisition mode. The control IC 12B is a semiconductor chip located near the processor 10 and has the function of analyzing the information acquired from the touch IC 12A and providing touch operation information to the processor 10. Alternatively, the control IC may be omitted, and the processor 10 may perform the functions of the control IC.

[0015] The touch panel controller 12 operates an information processing program that defines the functions of the touch panel 11. The touch IC 12A and the control IC 12B or processor 10 perform processing corresponding to the user's touch input based on the information processing program. The information processing program may be stored inside the touch panel controller 12, stored as firmware in the memory 15 or storage 16, or provided as a function of the OS.

[0016] The sensor 13 specifically includes various sensors such as a microphone, camera, angular velocity sensor, GPS sensor, and magnetic sensor, as well as control semiconductor chips if necessary. The information acquired by the sensor 13 is also provided to the processor 10. The display driver 14 is a semiconductor chip that controls the display of the display unit, controlling the brightness of the backlight if the display unit is a liquid crystal panel, and the voltage supplied to each pixel if the display unit is an organic EL panel.

[0017] Memory 15 is volatile memory that temporarily stores programs and data used by the processor 10. Storage 16 is slower than memory 15, which stores programs and data used by the processor 10, and non-volatile memory such as flash memory is used. A hard disk drive or the like may also be used as storage 16.

[0018] The communication unit 17 controls the communication of the information processing device 1. Communication includes short-range wireless communication such as wireless tags and wireless LANs, and mobile data communication lines. It also includes wired communication with other terminals via USB terminals, etc. The voice processing unit 18 provides the user with telephone functionality. It also plays audio and music contained in videos and enables voice operation. The battery 19 is a high-energy-density storage battery such as a lithium-ion battery, and supplies operating power to the information processing device 1 when it is not connected to a power source. By receiving operating power from the battery 19, the user can use the information processing device 1 in any location.

[0019] The user issues an operation command to the information processing device 1 by touching the touch panel 11 with one or more fingers, and moving them while touching it as needed. The processor 10 of the information processing device 1 responds to the user's operation command by executing processes such as making phone calls, playing videos, playing games, and browsing websites in accordance with information processing programs such as operating systems and application programs installed on the memory 15 or storage 16 of the information processing device 1, and displays the processing results on the display unit 11B of the touch panel 11 via the display driver 14.

[0020] (Operation of the touch panel controller) The operation of the touch panel controller 12 is described in detail below. The touch IC 12A of the touch panel controller 12 has a sensitivity register that sets the sensitivity of the touch panel 11, and the contents of this sensitivity register can be controlled externally. Table 1 shows a specific example of the sensitivity register. [Table 1]

[0021] The size of the register TMODE_CFG, which is a sensitivity register as shown in Table 1, is, for example, 1 byte. The value indicates the sensitivity of the touch panel 11; for example, a smaller value means that the touch position is judged more accurately. In this case, increasing the value of register TMODE_CFG can decrease the touch sensitivity. For example, if the value of register TMODE_CFG is set to a large value, touch input will not be accepted if the user touches the touch panel 11 with their fingertip, and touch input will only be accepted if the user firmly presses the touch panel 11 with the pad of their finger.

[0022] When touch sensitivity is increased, the touch panel 11 becomes more receptive to precise operations, but it may induce malfunctions if conductive noise is present on the screen, such as when water droplets are attached to the surface. On the other hand, when touch sensitivity is decreased, only rough operations are accepted, but the effects of noise are reduced. For example, when the value of register TMODE_CFG is 0, the touch IC 12A accepts touch input with high precision, and when the value of register TMODE_CFG is 1, it decreases the touch sensitivity to reduce the effects of noise. In this case, a value of 0 for TMODE_CFG corresponds to an example of a reference sensitivity, and a value of 1 corresponds to an example of a predetermined sensitivity lower than the reference sensitivity. In the example of this disclosure, there are 256 possible values ​​that can be stored in register TMODE_CFG, making it possible to change the sensitivity of the touch panel in more gradual steps. By changing the value of the sensitivity register TMODE_CFG by program or logic circuit, the touch panel controller 12 functions as a switching means to decrease the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 11 as needed. "Reference sensitivity" refers to the touch sensitivity in a normal state where no water droplets are present on the surface, for example, the sensitivity required to detect the user's intended touch position during a touch operation in a dry state. "Predetermined sensitivity" refers to the touch sensitivity in a wet state where water droplets are present on the surface, for example, the sensitivity required to detect the user's intended touch position during a touch operation in a wet state.

[0023] When a user touches the touch panel 11, the touch panel controller 12 functions as a touch event detection means via a program or logic circuit and generates touch event information as shown in Table 2. To suppress the occurrence of unintended touch events and reactions caused by contact with objects other than fingers, the touch panel controller 12 recognizes a touch event only when a change in capacitance occurs in an elliptical region. Therefore, the location where a touch event occurs is detected as an ellipse. If the touch panel controller 12 is composed of multiple semiconductor chips as in this embodiment, the touch event information may be stored in a cache memory that can be commonly used by the touch panel controller 12, and may be transmitted from the touch IC 12A located near the touch panel to the control IC 12B located near the processor 10 as needed. [Table 2]

[0024] The parameter SLOT is a value assigned to identify fingers simultaneously touching the touch panel 11. The touch panel controller 12 can accept so-called multi-touch input, which enables complex operations by having multiple fingers touch the touch panel 11. An ID is assigned to each finger touching the touch panel 11, and its movement is managed individually. For example, if SLOT is 0, it indicates a touch event by the first finger, and if no other touch events have occurred, it indicates a single touch. If SLOT is 1 or greater, it indicates that a touch event by another finger occurred while the touch event by the first finger was still ongoing. In the example in Table 2, the value of SLOT is 2, which indicates that three fingers were touching the touch panel 11 when the touch event started.

[0025] The parameter POSITION_X is the X-coordinate value of the ellipse's center, and POSITION_Y is the Y-coordinate value of the ellipse's center. TOUCH_MAJOR indicates the major axis of the ellipse, and TOUCH_MINOR indicates the minor axis. ORIENTATION indicates the inclination of the ellipse. PRESSURE is a value indicating the pressure applied by the finger.

[0026] AREA_CHG_RATE is a value that indicates the rate of change of the major axis of the ellipse when a finger touches it, and is calculated by the touch panel controller 12 from other parameters. When the touch IC 12A is writing the parameters related to Table 2 to memory, the AREA_CHG_RATE parameter may be blank, and is a value that the touch panel controller 12 calculates and inserts in a later analysis process.

[0027] When a user touches the touch panel 11 and the touch panel controller 12 detects the touch operation, the information is sent from the touch panel controller 12 to the processor 10 as a touch event. The touch event is recognized as an operation signal by the operating system of the information processing device 1. The touch event continues for a certain period of time as long as the finger is touching the touch panel 11. For this reason, the touch panel controller 12 manages touch events with the same SLOT value in chronological order.

[0028] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a finger touching the touch panel. To prevent noise, the touch IC 12A detects a touch operation when it detects an elliptical change in capacitance. The parameters shown in the figure correspond to those in Table 2.

[0029] Figure 4 is a flowchart of the touch IC's processing. The touch IC 12A periodically scans the capacitance of the touch panel 11 (step S200). If a change in capacitance is detected, the touch IC 12A acquires scan data and generates touch event information shown in Table 2 (step S201). Subsequently, the touch IC 12A uses the sensitivity register value shown in Table 1. Refer to the reference to determine the default value for reading sensitivity (step S202). Next, the touch IC 12A calculates the touch radius and determines whether the touch radius exceeds the default value set from the sensitivity register value (step S203). The touch radius can be calculated from the scan parameters shown in Table 2, more specifically from the values ​​of TOUCH_MAJOR and TOUCH_MINER.

[0030] If the touch radius exceeds the specified value (YES in S203), the touch IC 12A transmits a notification to the host side, i.e., the control IC 12B, that a touch has been detected (step S204). If the touch radius does not exceed the specified value (NO in S203), the touch IC 12A does not transmit touch information to the control IC 12B.

[0031] Figure 5 is a flowchart of the touch panel controller's processing. When touch information is generated from the touch IC 12A, an interrupt is generated in the control IC 12B, and the control IC 12B starts the touch operation process (step S300). Upon receiving the interrupt, the control IC 12B continuously obtains touch event information for each finger, i.e., for each SLOT value (step S301). The control IC 12B manages the touch event information for each finger, i.e., for each SLOT value, in chronological order and determines if there are any fingers under management whose touch information has been interrupted (step S302). When any finger is released (YES in step S302), the control IC 12B notifies the processor 10 that the touch event has ended (step S305).

[0032] If no finger has left the touch panel 11 (NO in step S302), the control IC 12B determines for each finger whether a new touch has started (step S303). Specifically, the control IC 12B determines whether a touch event with the same SLOT value reported by the touch IC 12A occurred immediately before. If no touch event occurred immediately before (YES in step S303), the control IC 12B notifies the processor 10 of the start of a new touch event (step S304). Furthermore, the control IC 12B transmits the position of the finger during the ongoing touch event to the processor 10 (step S305). If touch information with the same SLOT information occurred immediately before (NO in step S303), the control IC 12B continues to transmit the finger position to the processor 10.

[0033] Touch event information is stored chronologically in the processor 10's cache memory or memory 15 via the processor 10 and used as needed for controlling the information processing device 1. Alternatively, the touch panel controller 12 itself may have a memory for temporarily storing touch event information and perform saving processing, and the touch event information may be held in this memory so that the processor 10 can refer to it as needed.

[0034] A typical information processing device with a touch panel may have a multi-touch function that can detect multiple touches simultaneously. In a touch panel that supports multi-touch functionality, touch event information is stored in association with a SLOT value when a touch is detected. When touch events for a particular SLOT value are no longer detected and information processing is no longer necessary, a touch termination process is performed for each SLOT value and tracking ends. The touch event information is stored as a log in storage 16 or the like as needed and used, for example, to improve the performance of the touch panel 11.

[0035] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the process of changing the sensitivity of the entire touch panel. When a user starts a touch operation, the touch panel controller 12 starts recording touch events (step S100). Touch events are managed by assigning a different SLOT value to each finger that touches the touch panel 11. The touch panel controller 12 then records the touch events. For each finger present, it is determined whether a touch event is continuing (step S101). If the touch event is interrupted (YES in step S101), the touch panel controller 12 terminates recording of touch event information related to that SLOT value (step S103). Also, if the fingers are continuously touching the touch panel 11 in a time series (NO in step S101), the touch panel controller 12 determines the duration of the touch event for each finger (step S102). If a particular finger is touching the touch panel 11 for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second or more) from the start of the touch event (YES in step S102), the touch panel controller 12 terminates recording of the touch event related to that SLOT value (S103). If the touch panel contact time is less than the predetermined time (NO in step S102), the touch panel controller 12 terminates recording of the touch event for that finger (step S103). Steps S100 to S103 correspond to the detection steps in this disclosure.

[0036] The touch panel controller 12 performs the following steps, i.e., when the finger leaves the touch panel 11, or when the touch panel 11 has a multi-touch function, for example, when all touch events for all SLOT values ​​have finished, to determine whether the touch was made while wet, and changes the sensitivity of the touch panel 11 according to the determination result.

[0037] Specifically, the short axis information (TOUCH_MINOR) and long axis information (TOUCH_MAJOR) are obtained from the time-series information of touch events, and the AREA_CHG_RATE, which is the average value of the rate of change of the long axis, is obtained (step S104).

[0038] When a touch event ends, the touch panel controller 12 obtains time-series information of the minor axis (TOUCH_MINOR) and major axis (TOUCH_MAJOR) from the completed touch event and obtains the average value of the minor axis relative to the rate of change of the major axis (step S104).

[0039] The touch panel controller 12 determines whether the touch panel 11 is wet from the acquired touch event information (step S105). The specific method for determining wetness will be described later, but the touch panel controller 12 determines that the touch panel 11 is wet if the value of the minor axis information (TOUCH_MINOR) exceeds a standard with respect to the rate of change of the major axis information (TOUCH_MEJOR). Steps S104 and S105 correspond to the determination steps in this disclosure, and this determination is a determination means executed by the control IC 12B of the touch panel controller 12 or a program running on the processor 10.

[0040] If the touch panel controller 12 determines that a touch event has occurred while the touch panel 11 is wet (YES in step S106), it changes the value of the sensitivity register referenced by the touch IC 12A to a lower sensitivity (step S107). For example, it changes the value of the sensitivity register TMODE_CFG from 0x00 to 0x01. The value of the sensitivity register may be changed in multiple steps according to the degree of wetness. If the touch panel controller 12 determines that a touch event has occurred while the touch panel 11 is not wet (NO in step S106), it maintains the value of the sensitivity register. If the sensitivity register value is low, the touch panel controller 12 may return the sensitivity register value to high sensitivity if it fails to detect water leakage from the touch panel 11 after a certain number of touch events. The touch panel controller 12 may also return the sensitivity register value to high sensitivity after a certain period of time has elapsed since the last touch event occurred. Step 106 corresponds to the switching step in this disclosure.

[0041] When the touch panel sensitivity of the touch panel 11 is reduced, the touch panel controller 12 may have difficulty recognizing subtle touch operations, such as those made by the user's fingertips, but the effects of water droplets are also reduced, so it is rare for touch operation to become impossible. Furthermore, when the sensitivity of the touch panel 11 decreases, the user unconsciously uses the pads of their fingers to perform touch operations more firmly, so even when the sensitivity of the touch panel 11 is reduced to a certain extent, the user can operate the information processing device 1 without being too aware of the reduced sensitivity. The information processing device 1 may also display some kind of notification on the screen when it detects that the touch panel 11 is wet. In this way, the touch panel controller 12 can reduce the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 11 while it is determined that the touch panel 11 is wet.

[0042] (Specific methods for detecting water wetting) The following describes a method for determining whether the touch panel 11 is wet from touch event information. In this embodiment, whether the touch panel 11 is wet is detected from the touch event information using the AREA_CHG_RATE parameter, which is the rate of change of the major axis of the ellipse when a finger touches it.

[0043] AREA_CHG_RATE can be calculated as follows. If a single touch event is denoted as t, then the touch event t contains information about the minor axis (TOUCH_MINOR) and the major axis (TOUCH_MAJOR). In the case of multi-touch, to identify each finger, a non-negative integer SLOT number, starting from 0, is assigned to the touch event t in the order in which the fingers touched the screen. For a recorded touch event t, t(SLOT) = i is considered to be the case. i When expressed as, t i The time-series information of is represented by a non-negative integer j starting from 0. In this case, the j-th notified t i is, t i It is expressed as [j].

[0044] The touch panel controller 12 processes the 0th touch event t of any SLOT number. i [0] The time series t i The growth rate of (TOUCH_MAJOR) is calculated, and this is used as t i Let's call it (AREA_CHG_RATE). i (AREA_CHG_RATE) can be calculated as shown in equation 1.

number

[0045] Figure 7 is a scatter plot of touch events in dry and wet conditions. Specifically, it is a scatter plot of AREA_CHG_RATE (rate of change of the major axis of the ellipse) and TOUCH_MINOR (information on the minor axis of the ellipse) for each touch event, with TOUCH_MINOR on the vertical axis and AREA_CHG_RATE on the horizontal axis. Darker colored dots represent values ​​obtained from touch events in dry conditions, while lighter colored dots represent values ​​obtained when the touch panel 11 is wet.

[0046] t(AREA_CHG_RATE) tends to increase from the start of touching until the touch operation is completed, as the touch IC 12A may continue to recognize the traces of water remaining on the panel as touches if the touch panel 11 is wet. Also, t(TOUCH_MINOR) tends to increase if the touch panel 11 is wet, as the water on the finger spreads horizontally.

[0047] Thus, when the touch panel 11 is wet, the variance between the rate of change of the minor axis information and the major axis information of the ellipse obtained from the touch event information becomes very large. Therefore, the touch panel controller 12 plots the correspondence between the values ​​of AREA_CHE_RATE and TOUCH_MINOR over a certain period of time, and determines when the touch panel 11 is wet. It is possible to determine whether it is wet or dry. However, from FIG. 7, it can also be read that the area where the correspondence relationship can be plotted by touching the touch panel 11 in a dry state and the area where the correspondence relationship can be plotted by touching the touch panel 11 in a state of being wet with water overlap. That is, even when the touch panel 11 is wet with water, there may be cases where the values of AREA_CHG_RATE and TOUCH_MINOR that are the same as those in the state where the touch panel 11 is dry can be obtained.

[0048] Therefore, as a result of intensive studies, the inventor of the present application separated the touch event when the touch panel 11 is dry and the touch event when the touch panel 11 is wet with water by transforming the parameters of t(AREA_CHG_RATE) and t(TOUCH_MINOR).

[0049] Specifically, let the set of touch events be S multi and, as a subset of the S multi let the set of touch events where all the values of SLOT are c (c is a non-negative integer), that is, the set of touch events obtained from a specific finger, be S c . S c is also represented as S and can be expressed by the following formula.

Equation

[0050] Also, the set obtained by extracting only a certain parameter PARAM from the touch events that are elements of S is represented as S(PARAM) and can be expressed as follows. The elements of this set are all numerical values.

Equation

[0051] And when S(PARAM)≠φ, the average value, maximum value, and minimum value for all elements of S are respectively avgS(PARAM), maxS(PARAM), and minS(PARAM).

[0052] Figure 8 is a scatter plot of touch events in dry and wet conditions with modified parameters. In Figure 8, the horizontal axis is set to maxS(AREA_CHG_RATE)-minS(AREA_CHG_RATE), and the horizontal axis is set to avgS(TOUCH_MINOR), plotting the correspondence between the values. Darker points indicate values ​​obtained from touch events when the touch panel 11 is dry, and lighter points indicate values ​​obtained from touch events when the touch panel 11 is wet.

[0053] Figure 8 shows that the overlap between the plotted ranges for when the touch panel 11 is wet and the plotted ranges for when the touch panel 11 is dry is reduced compared to Figure 7. In this way, by appropriately modifying the parameters, it becomes possible to determine with high accuracy whether the touch panel 11 is wet or dry from the plotted position. In Figure 8, a separation line is drawn using a logistic regression model for the set of points for the wet and dry states obtained in this way, and this is used as the criterion value, i.e., threshold, for determining whether the touch panel 11 is wet or dry. In logistic regression, a logistic curve showing the probability of the wet state occurring is created for data classified into dry touch and wet touch, and the separation line is obtained from the coefficients of that curve. In the example in Figure 8, if a touch event is plotted to the lower left of the separation line, it can be assumed that the touch panel 11 is dry, and if a touch event is plotted to the upper right of the separation line, it can be assumed that the touch panel 11 is wet.

[0054] Figure 9 shows the threshold for determining whether a touch is wet. In Figure 9, the plotted range is separated using the separation line obtained in Figure 8 as a reference or threshold. Lighter colored areas are wet areas where the touch panel 11 is expected to be wet, and darker colored areas are dry areas where the touch panel 11 is expected to be dry. By deriving maxS(AREA_CHE_RATE)-minS(AREA_CHG_RATE) and avg(TOUGH_MINOR) from the touch event and plotting them in Figure 9, it is easy to determine whether the touch event occurred when the touch panel 11 was wet or when it was dry. For example, point A is plotted in Figure 9. Since point A is plotted in the wet area, the touch panel controller 12 can easily determine that the touch event occurred when the touch panel 11 was wet.

[0055] The separation line shown in Figure 9 is, for example, calculated in advance from the characteristics of the touch panel 11 and touch event information in wet and dry states acquired during testing of the information processing device 1, and is stored in the non-volatile memory of the touch panel controller 12 in the factory default state.

[0056] In the parameter modification method according to this embodiment, touch events are separated and plotted by SLOT information, making it possible to accurately determine water wetting even in cases where only some touches are wet in a multitouch setup. The touch panel controller 12 may change the sensitivity register to a low-sensitivity mode when only one point of a multitouch is plotted in the wet area. Alternatively, the touch panel 11 may be divided into multiple areas, and the detection sensitivity may be reduced only for the areas where water wetting has been detected. Furthermore, if water wetting is detected only for specific SLOT information, it may be assumed that a specific finger, rather than the touch panel 11, is wet, and the touch sensitivity may be reduced only for the touch event information of the specific SLOT value where water wetting has been detected.

[0057] (experiment) A prototype of an information processing device 1 having waterproof and dustproof functions according to this embodiment was fabricated and tested. A 12-key on-screen keyboard was displayed on the touch panel 11 of the information processing device 1, and input tests were conducted by applying water droplets to it. In the first experiment, water droplets were applied with a dropper before the experiment to correspond to each key part of the on-screen keyboard. In this state, the experimenter attempted to input approximately 17 characters into the on-screen keyboard. With the water-induced detection sensitivity change of the touch panel 11 disabled, input errors and instances of multiple characters being entered with a single touch occurred frequently, and 40% of the entered characters were incorrect. In contrast, with the water-induced detection sensitivity change of the touch panel 11 enabled, input errors were reduced, and the incorrect input rate was 21.1%.

[0058] In the second experiment, water was sprayed twice onto the touch panel 11 using a spray bottle to randomly deposit water droplets on the on-screen keyboard, and an input test similar to the first experiment was performed. With the water-induced sensitivity change of the touch panel 11 disabled, input errors and omissions occurred frequently, with a combined rate of 30.4%. In contrast, with the water-induced sensitivity change of the touch panel 11 enabled, input errors and omissions were reduced, with a combined rate of 9.5%.

[0059] Based on the results of this experiment, it can be said that the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment, which changes the sensitivity of the touch panel 11 in response to touch input, can significantly suppress the decrease in input accuracy caused by water wetting of the touch panel 11.

[0060] (Applicability to users) The accuracy of water wetting detection according to this embodiment will be improved to suit the user's characteristics. It is also possible to consider the following: The size of the fingers of the person using the information processing device 1 varies depending on age and gender, and there are also individual differences in touch operation habits (for example, whether they lightly touch with their fingertips or firmly with the pads of their fingers). Furthermore, assuming that the information processing device 1 is a smartphone or tablet computer, the primary operator is the device owner, and it is exceptional for someone else to operate it. Therefore, it is conceivable to adjust the water damage detection threshold of the touch panel 11 of the information processing device 1 by detecting the device owner's habits from the device owner's operation history, and to switch the sensitivity of the touch panel 11 at a more appropriate timing.

[0061] The touch panel 11 of the information processing device 1 is normally operated in a dry state, and it is infrequently operated with water droplets on it. Therefore, by recording the touch events of the same user and obtaining the median value, it is possible to obtain a record of touch operations in the normal state, i.e., when the touch panel 11 is not wet.

[0062] The information processing device 1 has touch operation reference values ​​recorded in advance. The touch operation reference values ​​are obtained by performing parameter deformation on a record of a certain number of touch panel 11 operations performed by a terminal designer or tester. The parameter deformation is as described above, and the plot area is the same as in Figure 8. Specifically, for each touch event, maxS(AREA_CHG_RATE)-minS(AREA_CHG_RATE) is used as the X axis and avgS(TOUCH_MINOR) is used as the Y axis when plotting the correspondence, and the median on the X axis is set to x0, and the median on the Y axis is set to y0.

[0063] The information processing device 1 periodically records user touch events. For example, it extracts and records arbitrary user touch events about 10 times per day. The touch panel controller 12 refers to these extracted touch event records and performs parameter transformations in the same way as the reference value x to obtain the median user operation values ​​x',y'. The following are used as adjustment lines to separate touch events that are wet or not.

number

[0064] The information processing device 1 updates the separation line using the following equation, with respect to the touch operation reference values ​​x0, y0 and the user operation median values ​​x', y'.

number

[0065] In this way, by periodically updating the separation line, the response of the touch panel 11 can be adjusted, and an information processing device 1 having a touch panel 11 that is suited to the user's characteristics can be provided. The separation line may be updated gradually by weighting.

[0066] Thus, a user of the information processing device 1 according to this disclosure can continue to use the touch panel 11 for touch operations even when the touch panel 11 is wet. For this reason, as described in the prior art, there is no need to provide a mechanism to remove water droplets from the touch panel 11. Furthermore, there is no need to take measures to disable the use of the touch panel 11 when water wetness is detected, and there is no need to provide any unnecessary physical switches on the information processing device 1.

[0067] Due to the features described above, the information processing device 1 according to this disclosure can be operated with almost the same feel as in its normal state, even when the information processing device 1 is exhibiting its waterproof and dustproof functions. This will greatly improve user convenience.

[0068] Although this embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In this embodiment, logistic regression was used to generate a separation line that defines a reference value for identifying touch in a wet state. However, the method used to generate the separation line is not limited to this. For example, the separation line may be generated using a support vector machine. A support vector machine is a method of drawing straight lines from each area to the position that provides the greatest margin for data classified as touch in a dry state and touch in a wet state. If each area cannot be perfectly linearly separated, a penalty is imposed on the elements that fall within the margin, and a straight line is found that provides a larger margin and less penalty. A separation line can also be generated by this method. Note that the method for generating the separation line is not limited to this, and an appropriate method can be used depending on the characteristics of the information processing device 1.

[0069] The features included in each embodiment and its modified form disclosed above can be combined in any way. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0070] 1. Information Processing Device 10 Processors 11. Touch panel 11A...Input section 11B...Display section 12. Touch Panel Controller 13. Sensor 14. Display Driver 15...memory 16. Storage 17. Communications Department 18. Audio Processing Unit 19. Battery

Claims

1. A touch panel that accepts user instructions, A detection means for detecting the aforementioned operation instruction as a touch event, A determination means that determines whether or not the touch panel is wet based on the aforementioned touch event, A switching means that, while the touch panel is determined to be wet, switches the detection sensitivity of the touch panel to a predetermined sensitivity lower than the normal sensitivity, Equipped with, The detection means determines whether the change in capacitance of the touch panel occurs in an elliptical region, and acquires the touch event as an ellipse having a major axis and a minor axis. The detection means acquires the touch event as time-series information for each of the user's fingers, The determination means obtains the value of the minor axis in relation to the rate of change of the major axis included in the touch event, and determines that the touch panel is wet if the correspondence between the rate of change of the major axis and the value of the minor axis exceeds a standard. Information processing device.

2. The determination means calculates the difference between the maximum and minimum values ​​of the rate of change of the major axis, and the average value of the minor axis. If the correspondence between the minimum value and the maximum value of the rate of change of the major axis, and the average value of the minor axis exceeds the aforementioned criterion, it is determined that the touch panel is wet. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned criterion is a linear separation line obtained by linearly separating the values ​​obtained by plotting the touch events when the touch panel is wet from the values ​​obtained by plotting the touch events when the touch panel is not wet. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The determination means modifies the separation line by referring to the user's operation history. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3.

5. It accepts user instructions via the touch panel, A detection step that detects the aforementioned operation instruction as a touch event, A determination step is to determine whether or not the touch panel is wet based on the aforementioned touch event. A switching step in which, when it is determined that the touch panel is wet, the detection sensitivity of the touch panel is switched to a predetermined sensitivity lower than the normal sensitivity, Equipped with, The detection step includes determining whether the change in capacitance of the touch panel occurs in an elliptical region, and acquiring the touch event as an ellipse having a major axis and a minor axis. The detection step includes a process for acquiring the touch event as time-series information for each of the user's fingers. The determination step includes obtaining the value of the minor axis in relation to the rate of change of the major axis included in the touch event, and determining that the touch panel is wet if the correspondence between the rate of change of the major axis and the value of the minor axis exceeds a standard. Information processing methods.

6. A computer equipped with a touch panel that accepts user instructions, A detection step that detects the aforementioned operation instruction as a touch event, A determination step is to determine whether or not the touch panel is wet based on the aforementioned touch event. A switching step in which, when it is determined that the touch panel is wet, the detection sensitivity of the touch panel is switched to a predetermined sensitivity lower than the normal sensitivity, To execute, The detection step includes determining whether the change in capacitance of the touch panel occurs in an elliptical region, and acquiring the touch event as an ellipse having a major axis and a minor axis. The detection step includes a process for acquiring the touch event as time-series information for each of the user's fingers. The determination step includes obtaining the value of the minor axis in relation to the rate of change of the major axis included in the touch event, and determining that the touch panel is wet if the correspondence between the rate of change of the major axis and the value of the minor axis exceeds a standard. Information processing program.

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