Input device

Abstract

One embodiment of an input device according to the present invention comprises: a band-shaped housing having a flat-surface section and a side-surface section formed at a prescribed angle with respect to the flat-surface section; one or more first electrodes formed on the flat-surface section; one or more second electrodes formed on the side-surface section; and a control unit connected to the first and second electrodes. The control unit detects a contact operation with respect to the first and second electrodes, and generates input information on the basis of the detection results.

Description

Input Device

[0001] One aspect of the present invention relates to an input device used for inputting operation information.

[0002] In recent years, various wearable terminal devices have been developed, and one of them is a ring-shaped input device. As described, for example, in Non-Patent Document 1, a ring-shaped input device has an electrode group arranged on the top surface of a ring-shaped housing, detects touch operations on these electrodes, and outputs input information corresponding to the operation pattern. It is configured as follows.

[0003] Roger Boldu, Alexandru Dancu, Denys J.C. Matthies, Pablo Gallego Casco’n, Shanaka Ransir, and Suranga Nanayakkara, “Thumb-In-Motion: Evaluating Thumb-to-Ring Microgestures for Athletic Activity”, In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI’ 18), Pages 150-157, Oct. 2018.

[0004] However, small input devices represented by ring-shaped input devices have a problem that it is difficult to increase the types of input information such as inputtable vocabularies because the area of the input operation surface is small. In addition, since the user has to perform an input operation on a small input operation surface, there is also a problem in operability.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a technique that enables increasing the types of information that can be input and improving operability in a small input device.

[0006] To solve the above problems, one embodiment of the input device according to the present invention comprises a strip-shaped housing having a flat portion and a side portion formed at a predetermined angle with respect to the flat portion, at least one first electrode formed on the flat portion, at least one second electrode formed on the side portion, and a control unit connected to the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the control unit detects contact operations on the first electrode and the second electrode and generates input information based on the detection result.

[0007] According to one aspect of this invention, it is possible to input information by using both a first electrode formed on a flat surface and a second electrode formed on a side surface. Therefore, it is possible to increase the types of information that can be input compared to when information is input using only the first electrode formed on the flat surface. Furthermore, by forming electrodes on the side surface in addition to the flat surface, it is possible to widen the spacing between electrodes, thereby improving the operability of the input operation compared to, for example, when a large number of electrodes are formed only on the flat surface to input multiple types of information.

[0008] In other words, according to one aspect of this invention, it is possible to provide a technology that enables an increase in the types of information that can be input and an improvement in operability in a small input device.

[0009] Figure 1A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the first embodiment of this invention. Figure 1B is a front view of the input device shown in Figure 1A. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an input device according to the first embodiment of this invention. Figure 3A is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content from the measurement process to the contact determination process among the contact determination processes executed by the measurement determination unit of the input device shown in Figure 2. Figure 3B is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content of the gesture information determination process among the contact determination processes executed by the measurement determination unit of the input device shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of the gesture determination process shown in Figure 3B. Figure 5A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the second embodiment of this invention. Figure 5B is a front view of the input device shown in Figure 5A. Figure 6A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the third embodiment of this invention. Figure 6B is a front view of the input device shown in Figure 6A. Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of the dimensions of the input device shown in Figure 6B. Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of the dimensions of an input device with the same structure on both sides as shown in Figures 1B and 5B. Figure 9A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9B is a front view of the input device shown in Figure 9A. Figure 10A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Figure 10B is a side view of the input device shown in Figure 10A. Figure 11 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration of an electrode pattern provided on the operating surface of the input device.

[0010] Embodiments of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0011] [First Embodiment] (Configuration Example) Figure 1A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 1B is a front view of the input device shown in Figure 1A. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] The input device according to the first embodiment is a ring-shaped input device and consists of a ring-shaped housing 10A and a measurement and determination unit 20 that functions as a control unit.

[0013] The housing 10A is formed from a strip-shaped insulating material, such as resin, into a circular ring shape. It has a flat surface (hereinafter referred to as the top surface) 11A formed on the outer circumference of the ring, and tapered side surfaces 12A(L) and 12B(R) formed on both sides of the ring. The shape and dimensions of the side surfaces 12A(L) and 12B(R) are set to the same value.

[0014] On the top surface 11A and the side surfaces 12A(L) and 12B(R) described above, electrodes (hereinafter referred to as electrode patterns) 13 and 14, which are foil-like in shape in the longitudinal direction of the ring, are formed by adhesion, vapor deposition, or printing, as shown in Figure 2, for example. These electrode patterns 13 and 14 are kept in a non-contact state so as not to electrically affect each other and are connected to the measurement and judgment unit 20, respectively. The structure, shape, and formation method of the electrode patterns 13 and 14 can be designed arbitrarily.

[0015] The measurement and judgment unit 20 is made of, for example, an integrated circuit and is housed within the housing 10A, or positioned on the back side (inner circumferential surface of the ring) of the housing 10A. The structure of the measurement and judgment unit 20 and the method of installation on the housing 10A can be designed arbitrarily.

[0016] The measurement and judgment unit 20 includes a control unit 21 that uses a hardware processor such as a central processing unit (CPU), and a storage unit having a program storage unit 22 and a data storage unit 23, and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as I / F) unit 24 are connected to this control unit 21.

[0017] The communication interface unit 24 is used to transmit gesture information determined by the control unit 21 (described later) to a user terminal (not shown). The communication method used is a wireless communication method employing low-power wireless data communication standards such as Bluetooth® or Wi-Fi®.

[0018] The program storage unit 22 is configured, for example, as a storage medium, by combining a non-volatile memory that can be written to and read at any time, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), with a non-volatile memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory). In addition to middleware such as an OS (Operating System), it stores various programs necessary to execute various control processes according to the first embodiment of this invention.

[0019] The data storage unit 23 is configured as a storage medium that combines a non-volatile memory that can be written to and read at any time, such as an HDD or SSD, with a volatile memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory). Its storage area includes a measurement value storage unit 231, a judgment condition storage unit 232, a contact judgment information storage unit 233, a basic gesture pattern storage unit 234, and a gesture judgment information storage unit 235.

[0020] The control unit 21 includes a measurement processing unit 211, a determination unit 212, and a gesture determination information transmission processing unit 213 as processing functions necessary for realizing the first embodiment of this invention. Of these, the determination unit 212 includes a contact determination processing unit 2121 and a gesture determination processing unit 2122.

[0021] Each of the above-mentioned processing units 211 to 213 is implemented by having the hardware processor of the control unit 21 execute an application program stored in the program storage unit 22. Note that some or all of the above-mentioned processing units 211 to 213 may be implemented using hardware such as LSI (Large Scale Integration) or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0022] The measurement processing unit 211 measures the contact of the user's finger with the electrode patterns 13 and 14. For example, it transmits a pulse signal to each electrode pattern 13 and 14 via an RC circuit at a predetermined frame period, and measures the difference in the rising edge time of the pulse signal generated by the low-pass filter configured when the user's finger touches the electrode pattern. The measurement processing unit 211 stores the measured value of the delay time difference in the measurement value storage unit 231.

[0023] Furthermore, as a measurement method, any method that can detect finger contact with electrode patterns 13 and 14 can be used, including self-capacitance methods and mutual capacitance methods.

[0024] The contact determination processing unit 2121 of the determination unit 212 determines which electrode pattern the finger has come into contact with based on the measured values ​​stored in the measured value storage unit 231. In this case, to reduce malfunctions, the contact determination processing unit 2121 determines that the finger has come into contact with an electrode if, for example, the sum of the measured values ​​over several frames exceeds a threshold value for contact determination that has been stored in advance in the determination condition storage unit 232.

[0025] The contact determination processing unit 2121 generates information representing the contact determination result with respect to the electrode patterns 13 and 14, for example, a contact pattern that shows which electrode patterns 13 and 14 were contacted and in what order and time, and stores it in the contact determination information storage unit 233. An example of the contact determination process will be explained in detail in the operation example.

[0026] The gesture determination processing unit 2122 of the determination unit 212 determines which gesture information has been input by comparing the contact pattern stored in the contact determination information storage unit 233 with, for example, the basic gesture pattern stored in the basic gesture pattern storage unit 234, and stores the determination result in the gesture determination information storage unit 235. An example of the gesture determination process will be explained in detail in the operation example.

[0027] The gesture determination information transmission processing unit 213 reads the gesture determination information from the gesture determination information storage unit 235 and transmits the read gesture determination information from the communication interface unit 24 to a user terminal (not shown).

[0028] (Example of operation) Next, an example of the operation of the input device configured as described above will be explained.

[0029] Figures 3A and 3B are flowcharts showing an example of the processing procedure and processing content of the contact determination process executed by the control unit 21 of the measurement and determination unit 20.

[0030] (1) The control unit 21 of the electrode contact determination measurement unit 20 applies a pulse signal to each electrode pattern 13, 14 at a predetermined frame period under the control of the measurement processing unit 211. In this state, suppose the user touches one of the electrode patterns 13, 14 with their finger. When the measurement processing unit 211 detects the contact in step S10, in step S11 it acquires the measurement value generated by the contact for each frame and stores it in the measurement value storage unit 231.

[0031] Once the above measurement values ​​are obtained, the control unit 21 of the measurement determination unit 20, under the control of the contact determination processing unit 2121, then calculates the sum of the measurement values ​​for a predetermined number of frames, for example, "3 frames", stored in the measurement value storage unit 231 in step S12. Note that the number of frames to be added can be arbitrarily set to something other than "3 frames".

[0032] Next, in step S13, the contact determination processing unit 2121 determines whether or not the contact determination result has already been stored in the contact determination information storage unit 233. If, as a result of this determination, the measured value has not yet been stored, the contact determination processing unit 2121 considers the measured value to be due to the first contact with the electrode patterns 13 and 14 and proceeds to step S14.

[0033] The contact determination processing unit 2121 then compares the sum of the measured values ​​with a threshold value for contact determination stored in the determination condition storage unit 232 in step S14, and determines whether the sum of the measured values ​​is equal to or greater than the threshold value for contact determination. If the sum of the measured values ​​is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the contact determination processing unit 2121 determines that the contact is a clear touch operation to the electrode pattern, and in step S15, it stores the identification information of the touched electrode pattern (hereinafter referred to as electrode ID) along with the contact start timing in the contact determination information storage unit 233. The threshold value for contact determination is set to, for example, "100", but this value can be set arbitrarily.

[0034] After it is determined that the above touch operation has been performed, the user removes their finger from the electrode patterns 13 and 14. In this case, the contact determination processing unit 2121 determines in step S16 whether the sum of the measured values ​​for the three frames calculated in step S12 is less than the threshold value for contact termination determination stored in the determination condition storage unit 232.

[0035] Then, if the sum of the above measured values ​​does not fall below the threshold value for determining the end of contact, the contact determination processing unit 2121 determines that the user has removed their finger from the electrode patterns 13 and 14, and in step S17, stores the contact time in the contact determination information storage unit 233. The contact time is calculated as the time from the start of contact stored in the contact determination information storage unit 233 to the timing at which it is determined that the finger has been removed. The threshold value for determining the end of contact may be the same as the threshold value for contact determination, or it may be set to a different value.

[0036] Thereafter, similarly, each time the measurement processing unit 211 detects contact with the electrode patterns 13 and 14, the contact determination processing unit 2121 executes the contact determination process in steps S12 to S17.

[0037] Thus, when a user touches, for example, any single electrode pattern, a contact pattern represented by the contacted electrode ID and the contact time is stored in the contact determination information storage unit 233. Furthermore, when a user sequentially touches any two electrode patterns, a contact pattern represented by the electrode ID of each contacted electrode pattern, the order of contact, and the contact time is stored in the contact determination information storage unit 233.

[0038] If the contact detection process 2121 does not detect the contact operation in step S18 for a certain period of time, for example, it terminates the contact detection process.

[0039] (2) The control unit 21 of the gesture information determination measurement unit 20 then performs the following process to determine the type of gesture information based on the contact pattern stored in the contact determination information storage unit 233, under the control of the gesture determination processing unit 2122.

[0040] Here, the multiple gesture information to be judged could include, for example, a "tap operation" that individually contacts the electrode patterns 13 and 14, a "swipe operation" that sequentially contacts multiple electrode patterns 13 and 14 in the width direction of the ring, and a "gesture operation" that sequentially contacts multiple electrode patterns 13 and 14 in the longitudinal direction of the ring, but are not limited to these.

[0041] Specifically, in step S21, the gesture determination processing unit 2122 first reads a contact pattern from the contact determination information storage unit 233. Then, the gesture determination processing unit 2122 compares the read contact pattern with a plurality of basic gesture patterns to be determined stored in the basic gesture pattern storage unit 234 and determines which basic gesture pattern it matches. Then, in step S22, the gesture determination processing unit 2122 stores the basic gesture pattern that matches the operation pattern in the gesture determination information storage unit 235.

[0042] Figure 4 shows an example of a basic gesture pattern that is input by making contact with the electrode patterns 13 and 14 shown in Figure 2.

[0043] In this example, as basic gesture patterns, there are five types of "tap operations": (a) Left Top touch, (b) Right Top touch, (c) Left Bottom touch, (d) Right Bottom touch and (e) touch, four types of "gesture operations": (f) Left down, (g) Left up, (h) Right down and (i) Right up, and four types of "swipe operations": (j) Left→Right top, (k) Left→Right Bottom, (l) Right→Left top and (m) Right→Left Bottom.

[0044] According to the example shown in FIG. 4, when a contact operation is performed on the electrode pattern 14 of the left side surface 12A (L), no contact is made with any electrode pattern thereafter, and the contact time from the start to the end of contact is equal to or less than a threshold value (e.g., 200 ms), it is determined that a "tap operation" has been performed on the left side surface 12A (L). Even when a similar contact operation is performed only on the electrode 14 of the right side surface 12A (R), it is determined that a "tap operation" has been performed. Note that the threshold value of the contact time can be set to any arbitrary value.

[0045] On the other hand, for example, when contact operations are simultaneously performed on the electrode pattern 14 of the left side surface 12A (L) and the electrode pattern 13 of the top surface 11A, a finger is once released from the electrode pattern 14 of the left side surface 12A (L) thereafter, and then an operation of simultaneously contacting each of the electrode patterns 14 and 13 of the top surface 11A and the right side surface 12A (R) is performed, it is determined that a "swipe operation" from the left side to the right side direction of the housing 10A has been performed. Similarly, even when an operation of moving the contact position from the right side surface 12A (R) to the left side surface 12A (L) of the housing 10A is performed, it is determined that a "swipe operation" has been performed.

[0046] Further, when a contact operation is performed on one of the two electrode patterns 14, 14 formed along the longitudinal direction on the left side surface 12A(L), the finger is released once, and then a contact operation is performed on the other of the two electrode patterns 14, 14, it is determined that a "gesture operation" has been performed. It is determined that a "gesture operation" has also been performed when the contact operation transitions from the other to one of the two electrode patterns 14, 14. Furthermore, when a similar contact operation is performed on the two electrode patterns 14, 14 formed on the right side surface 12A(R), it is also determined as a "gesture operation".

[0047] Furthermore, after simultaneously contacting one electrode pattern 14 of the left side surface 12A(L) and one electrode pattern 13 of the top surface 11A, the finger is released once, and then when simultaneously contacting the other electrode pattern 14 of the same left side surface 12A(L) and the other electrode pattern 13 of the top surface 11A, it is also determined that a "gesture operation" has been performed. The same applies to the right side surface 12A(R).

[0048] (3) Transmission of Gesture Determination Information After the determination processing of the gesture information is completed, the control unit 21 of the measurement determination unit 20 reads the gesture determination information from the gesture determination information storage unit 235 in step S23 under the control of the gesture determination information transmission processing unit 213. Then, the gesture determination information transmission processing unit 213 transmits the read gesture determination information from the communication I / F unit 24 to a user terminal (not shown).

[0049] As the destination user terminal, for example, wearable terminals such as smartphones, tablet terminals, smart watches, head-mounted displays, glass-type computers, and wireless earphones used by the same user are assumed, but the user terminal may also be various IoT devices such as stationary personal computers, television receivers, home electric appliances, and lighting fixtures, and any type of device is acceptable as long as it enables wireless connection.

[0050] When the user terminal receives the gesture detection information, it controls the operation of the terminal based on the received gesture detection information. For example, in the case of wireless earphones, a tap on the left side surface 12A(L) will cause the user to "go back to the previous track," a tap on the right side surface 12A(R) will cause the user to "go ahead to the next track," and a gesture operation of tracing from the left side surface 12A(L) to the right side surface 12A(R) will cause the user to "adjust the volume," etc.

[0051] (Effects) As described above, in the first embodiment, in addition to the top surface 11A, tapered side surfaces 12A(L) and 12B(R) are formed on both sides of the ring-shaped housing 10A, and electrode patterns 13 and 14 are formed on the top surface 11A and both side surfaces 12A(L) and 12B(R), respectively. When contact operations are performed on the electrode patterns 13 and 14 individually or in combination sequentially, the patterns of these contact operations are determined, and based on the determined contact operation patterns, the corresponding basic gesture patterns are determined and the determination information is output.

[0052] Therefore, it becomes possible to input information by using both the electrode pattern 13 formed on the top surface 11A and the electrode patterns 14 formed on both side surfaces 12A(L) and 12A(R). As a result, compared to inputting gesture information by touch operation using, for example, the electrode pattern 13 formed only on the top surface 11A, it becomes possible to significantly increase the types of gesture information that can be input.

[0053] Furthermore, by forming electrode patterns 14 on both side surfaces 12A(L) and 12B(R) in addition to the top surface 11A, it becomes possible to widen the spacing between electrode patterns. This improves the operability and accuracy of input operations compared to, for example, forming numerous electrode patterns only on the top surface 11A to input multiple types of gesture information.

[0054] [Second Embodiment] Figure 5A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 5B is a front view of the input device shown in Figure 5A.

[0055] The input device according to the second embodiment is designed such that the width of the ring-shaped housing 10B is smaller than that of the example shown in Figures 1A and 1B. Specifically, the width dimension of the top surface 11B of the ring-shaped housing 10B, and the dimensions of the tapered left and right side surfaces 12B(L) and 12B(R) are both set to be smaller than those of the example shown in Figures 1A and 1B.

[0056] As in the first embodiment, electrode patterns 13 and 14 are formed on the top surface 11B and the left and right side surfaces 12B(L) and 12B(R), respectively. Furthermore, the measurement and judgment unit 20 can also be the same configuration as shown in Figure 2.

[0057] According to the second embodiment, even with a slimmer ring-shaped housing 10B, it is possible to provide a ring-shaped input device that can input various types of gesture information with good operability by selectively contacting the top surface 11B and both left and right side surfaces 12B(L) and 12B(R).

[0058] [Third Embodiment] Figure 6A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 6B is a front view of the input device shown in Figure 6A.

[0059] In the third embodiment, the ring-shaped input device is configured such that, when the ring-shaped housing 10C is worn on the user's finger, the shape of the side surface 12C(L) on the fingertip side is larger in width and has a gentler taper angle than the shape of the side surface 12C(R) on the palm side.

[0060] The electrode patterns are formed on the top surface 11C and on both the left and right side surfaces 12C(L) and 12C(R), respectively, as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, the measurement and judgment unit 20 can also be the same configuration as shown in Figure 2.

[0061] Figure 7 shows an example of the dimensions of the ring-shaped housing 10C shown in Figure 6B, where a = 1 mm, b = 2 mm, c = 1 mm, d = 2 mm, and e = 1 mm. The width and thickness dimensions of the ring-shaped housing 10C are both set to 4 mm.

[0062] Incidentally, Figure 8 shows an example of the dimensions of a ring-shaped input device in which the shape and dimensions of both the left and right side surfaces 12D(L) and 12D(R) are set to be the same. In this example, a=2mm, b=1mm, c=1mm, d=2mm, and e=1mm are set to respectively. In this example as well, the width and thickness dimensions of the ring-shaped housing 10D are both set to 4mm.

[0063] According to the third embodiment, even with a ring-shaped input device having a small width dimension, it is possible to easily distinguish both side surfaces 12C(L) and 12C(R) when performing touch operations, thereby further improving the accuracy and operability of touch operations.

[0064] [Fourth Embodiment] Figure 9A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 9B is a front view thereof.

[0065] The input device according to the fourth embodiment employs a housing 10E in which a part of the ring has been cut off, and a protruding portion 15E is interposed between the top surface 11E of the housing 10E and the tapered left and right side surfaces 12E(L) and 12E(R).

[0066] The electrode patterns are formed on the top surface 11E and the left and right side surfaces 12E(L) and 12E(R), respectively, as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, the measurement and judgment unit 20 can also be the same configuration as shown in Figure 2.

[0067] According to the fourth embodiment, the presence of the protruding portion 15E makes it possible to clearly distinguish between the top surface 11E and the left and right side surfaces 12E(L) and 12E(R) when performing touch operations without looking, thereby improving the accuracy of touch operations and enhancing operability.

[0068] [Fifth Embodiment] Figure 10A is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an input device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 10B is a side view thereof.

[0069] A fifth embodiment of this invention is a spectacle-type input device commonly known as smart glasses, in which both sides of a member 15F corresponding to the temple of the spectacle housing 10F are tapered, and electrode patterns are formed on the top surface 11F and the tapered side surfaces 12F of the member 15F corresponding to the temple.

[0070] The electrode patterns are formed on the top surface 11F and both side surfaces 12F, as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, the measurement and judgment unit 20 can also be the same configuration as shown in Figure 2.

[0071] Accordingly, according to the fifth embodiment, the user can input multiple types of gesture information by touching the top surface 11F and both side surfaces 12F of the member 15F corresponding to the temple of the glasses with their fingers while wearing the glasses-type input device. In addition, in this example, since both side surfaces 12F are tapered relative to the top surface 11F, the user can accurately perform blind touch operations on each electrode pattern formed on the top surface 11F and both side surfaces.

[0072] [Other Embodiments] (1) The electrode patterns formed on the top surface and both side surfaces of the ring-shaped input device may be formed to form a hybrid structure. For example, as shown in Figure 11, electrode patterns 13 and 14 are formed on the top surface and both side surfaces in the longitudinal direction. Furthermore, a plurality of strip-shaped electrode patterns 16 are formed in the width direction of the ring-shaped housing 10G so as to intersect with the above electrode patterns 13 and 14. Note that the electrode patterns 13 and 14 and the electrode pattern 16 are formed non-contact so as not to electrically affect each other.

[0073] By forming the electrode patterns 13, 14, and 16 in a hybrid structure as described above, the multiple electrode patterns 16 formed in the width direction make it possible to more precisely identify the user's touch position in the longitudinal direction of the ring, thereby enabling the input of even more types of gesture information.

[0074] The number, shape, spacing, and angle of the electrode patterns 16 relative to the electrode patterns 13 and 14 can be arbitrarily set.

[0075] (2) In addition, the shape of the ring-shaped housing may be an ellipse, square, hexagon, or other polygonal shape, and the material and dimensions, the shape and number of each electrode pattern, and the material can be selected in various ways without departing from the spirit of this invention. Furthermore, the functional configuration of the measurement and judgment unit 20, its processing procedure and processing content, the type and content of the gesture information, etc., can also be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of this invention.

[0076] Although embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above, the above description is merely illustrative in all respects. It goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of this invention. In other words, when implementing this invention, specific configurations may be adopted as appropriate depending on the embodiment.

[0077] In short, this invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and the components can be modified and implemented in practice without departing from the gist of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the multiple components disclosed in the embodiments described above. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Moreover, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

[0078] 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F... Housing 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, 11E, 11F... Top surface 12A(L), 12A(R), 12B(L), 12B(R), 12B(L), 12B(R), 12C(L), 12C(R), 12D(L), 12D(R), 12D(L), 12D(R), 12E(L), 12E(R), 12F... Side surface 13, 14, 16... Electrode pattern 15F... Eyeglass temple component 20... Measurement and judgment unit 21... Control unit 22... Program storage unit 23... Data storage unit 24... Communication I / F unit 211... Measurement processing unit 212... Judgment unit 2121... Contact judgment processing unit 2122... Gesture detection processing unit 213... Gesture detection information transmission processing unit 231... Measured value storage unit 232... Judgment condition storage unit 233... Contact detection information storage unit 234... Basic gesture pattern storage unit 235... Gesture detection information storage unit

Claims

1. An input device comprising: a strip-shaped housing having a flat portion and a side portion formed at a predetermined angle to the flat portion; at least one first electrode formed on the flat portion; at least one second electrode formed on the side portion; and a control unit connected to the first electrode and the second electrode, which detects contact operations on the first electrode and the second electrode and generates input information based on the detection results.

2. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the housing has first and second tapered side portions on both sides.

3. The input device according to claim 2, wherein the first side portion and the second side portion are formed in different shapes from each other.

4. The input device according to claim 2, wherein the housing has linear portions forming a boundary between the planar portion and the first side portion and the second side portion, respectively.

5. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the housing is formed in a ring shape.

6. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines identification information of the first electrode and the second electrode that have been in contact, a contact pattern representing the order of contact and the contact time, and generates the input information based on the determined contact pattern.

7. The input device according to claim 6, wherein the control unit includes, as a processing function, a process for determining a single contact operation to the first electrode or the second electrode within a predetermined time, said single contact operation as a tap operation, and a process for determining a complex contact operation to be a swipe operation or a gesture operation when a complex contact operation is performed by combining both the first electrode and the second electrode.

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