An information processing apparatus includes a touch panel which displays pieces of identification information including letters, figures, and symbols and detects a contact of the panel with a finger of a user or other object. When the touch panel detects the contact of the panel, a detection unit specifies identification information of one or more of the multiple pieces of identification information displayed on the touch panel, indicated by a position at which the contact in question occurred. The detection unit also detects an area of part of the panel where the contact occurred. A storage unit stores reference identification information and a reference area range. A control unit performs particular processing upon matching of the detected identification information with the stored reference identification information and the area of the contact detected by the detection unit falling within the stored reference area range.
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1. An information processing apparatus comprising:
a touch panel which displaies displays a plurality of pieces of identification information and detecting a contact of the panel with an object of interest a finger of a user;
a storage unit which stores first information including reference identification information and a reference area range;
a detection unit, which detects second information necessary to identify the user when the touch panel detects a contact with the object finger of the user, which specifies wherein detecting the second information includes detecting (1) identification information indicated by a position at which the contact in question occurred, of the multiple pieces of identification information displayed on the panel, and which detects (2) an area of part contact where the contact occurred;
a control unit which controls the information processing apparatus to operate at least in an identification mode and a registering mode; and
a storage unit which stores reference identification information and a reference area range;
a determination unit which determines whether in the identification mode that the first information matches the second information when the identification information detected by the detection unit matches the reference identification information stored in the storage unit and whether when the area of the contact detected by the detection unit falls within the reference area range stored in the storage unit; and,
a wherein the control unit which performs particular processing on condition the determination unit determines that the identification information detected by the detection unit matches the reference identification information stored in the storage unit and the area of the contact detected by the detection unit falls within the reference area range stored in the storage unit the first information matches the second information in the identification mode,
wherein the registering mode includes a first registering mode for inputting first input information corresponding to a first portion of the finger and a second registering mode for inputting second input information corresponding to a second portion of the finger,
wherein the reference identification information is generated and stored in the storage unit based on both the first input information and the second input information, the first portion corresponding to a pad of the finger,
wherein the determination unit determines in the identification mode that the first information matches the second information based on the first and second portions of the finger, and
wherein the controller is configured to associate a numeral password with the first information, and the storage unit is configured to store the association between the numeral password and the first information.
2. The information processing apparatus according to
the storage unit stores, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the reference identification information and the reference area range stored in the storage unit are based on the identification information and the area of the contact detected by the detection unitas the reference identification information and the reference area range, respectively.
3. The information processing apparatus according to
the storage unit stores first identification information and a first area range and second identification information and a second area range as the reference identification information and the reference area ranges; and
the determination unit determines, on condition the identification information detected by the detection unit matches the first identification information stored in the storage unit and the area of the contact detected by the detection unit falls within the first area range stored in the storage unit, whether the identification information detected by the detection unit matches the second identification information stored in the storage unit and the area of the contact detected by the detecting unit falls within the second area range stored in the storing unit.
4. The information processing apparatus according to
the storage unit stores a threshold value; and
the reference area range stored in the storage unit is defined based on the threshold value.
5. The information processing apparatus according to
the area of the contact detected by the detection unit is registered as the threshold value when a predetermined condition is satisfied.
0. 6. An information processing apparatus comprising:
a touch panel which displaies a plurality of pieces of identification information and detecting a contact of the panel with an object of interest;
a detection unit for, when the touch panel detects a contact of the panel with the object, which specifies identification information indicated by a position at which the contact in question occurred, of the multiple pieces of identification information displayed on the touch panel, and which detects an area of part where the contact occurred;
a storage unit whish stores a series of identification information and a series of area ranges, the series of area ranges each corresponding to the respective identification information; and
a control unit which performs particular processing on condition that a set of identification information detected by the detection unit matches the series of identification information stored in the storage unit and a series of contact areas detected by the detection unit each falls within the corresponding one of the series of area ranges stored in the storage unit.
0. 7. The information processing apparatus according to
the storage unit stores a first set of area ranges and a second set of area ranges as corresponding area ranges of the stored series of identification information; and
first processing is performed on condition that a set of identification information detected by the detecting unit matches the series of identification information stored in the storage unit and the areas of the contact detected by the detecting unit each falls within a corresponding one of the first set of area ranges stored in the storage unit, and second processing is performed on condition that a set of identification information detected by the detecting unit matches the series of identification information stored in the storing unit and the areas of the contact detected by the detecting unit each falls within a corresponding one of the second set of area ranges stored in the storage unit.
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The present application is a reissue application of U.S. Pat. No. 8,654,093 issued on Feb. 18, 2014 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/366,983 filed Feb. 6, 2012, which in turn claims priority from Japanese patent application serial no. No. JP2011-025576, filed on Feb. 9, 2011, the content entire contents of each of which is are hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
The present invention elates to information processing apparatuses.
JP-A-05-100809 discloses art related to the technical field of the present invention. The publication describes “An information processing apparatus including a touch panel device at least comprising: a physical type of an object; display position information on a display; file information where a status of the object is set; a display information table 1 storing display data of the object that includes a name of a file in a normal state and a name of the file in a special state (reversed display); and touch panel information 2 including a touch position coordinate and touch pressure information. A physical operation decided by a corresponding relation between physical information indicated by the display information table 1 and physical information indicated by the touch panel information 2 is given to the object to display it.”
Recently, information processing apparatuses for portable usage have become multi-functioned and ease of use thereof is particularly required.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that offers improved convenience to users.
To solve the foregoing problem, an aspect of the present invention provides an information processing apparatus comprising: a touch panel which displaies displays a plurality of pieces of identification information including letters, figures, and symbols, and for detecting a contact of the panel with a finger of a user or other objects; a detection unit, when the touch panel detects a contact of the panel with the object, which species identification information indicated by a position of the contact at which the contact in question occurred, of the multiple pieces of identification information displayed on the touch panel, and which detects an area of part where the contact occurred; a storage unit which stores reference identification information and a reference area range; a determination unit which determines whether the identification information detected by the detection unit matches the reference identification information stored in the storage unit and whether the area of the contact detected by the detection unit falls within the reference area range stored in the storage unit; and a control unit which performs particular processing when the determination unit determines that the identification information detected by the detection unit matches the reference identification information stored in the storage unit and the area of the contact detected by the detecting unit falls within the reference area range stored in the storing unit.
By employing such system, an information processing apparatus including a touch panel can be improved in usability.
The present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[First Embodiment]
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The way of calibration and the usage method for cancelling the lock or unlocking the portable terminal 0 according to the first embodiment will be described below with reference to
Among types of operation performed by the user on the portable terminal 0 are tapping, dragging, flicking, and pinching. Tapping is an operation which the user touches one point of the screen with a finger for a moment on the touch panel 1. Dragging is an operation which the user moves his or her finger over the screen of the touch panel 1 while the finger is in contact therewith. Flicking is an operation which the user quickly slides his or her finger on the screen of the touch panel 1 while touching it. Pinching is an operation which the user touches two points of the screen of the touch panel 1 with two fingers and changes the distance between the two points.
A series of operations from start-up of the portable terminal 0, calibration, and to turn-off of the portable terminal 0 will be next described. The term calibration used herein refers to an operation of setting a threshold value that is used for determining a contact range.
The power of the portable terminal turns on by pressing the button switch for a certain time. Then, the control unit 3 starts a program, adjusts the sensors, initializes the threshold value, and performs initial settings for screen display and other factors (S1000). After the initial setting procedure, the control unit 3 performs control to display lock cancel screen on the touch panel 1 (S1001). As can be seen in
The threshold value used for determining the contact range is defined as above by using the average value of the number of columns of sensors 4 that responded to the contact with the finger during unlocking (S1003). In other words, the threshold value for determining the contact range can be obtained (i.e., calibration can be made), simultaneously with unlocking operation.
The control unit 3 unlocks the portable terminal 0 (S1004) and waits until the user makes various inputs by way of the touch panel 1 (S1005). Receiving an input with a contact range equal to or narrower than the threshold value (specifically, “3” or less) (S1006), the control unit 3 determines that a finger tip input is made (S1007). Receiving an input with a contact range wider than the threshold value (specifically, “4” or more) (S1006), the control unit 3 determines that a finger pad input is made (S1008). After that, various operations are performed following the order of the input.
When no input is made for a predetermined period, several minutes for example, the control unit 3 stores the time and date of calibration, the threshold value, and other setting values, and then locks the portable terminal 0 (S1009). The control unit 3 displays the lock cancel screen (S1001) when a lock cancel switch assigned to the button switch 5 is pushed (S1010). When the button switch 5 is pressed for a certain time while the power of the portable terminal 0 is on, the power turns off.
As described heretofore, regardless of difference with individuals in contact ranges of finger tip input, the calibration allows accuracy of contact range determination to be improved. The first embodiment of the present invention uses the average of the number of columns of the sensors 4 that responded to the contact with the finger as the threshold value. However, this is not the only possible way for setting the threshold. For example, the threshold value may be corrected by adding an appropriate value to, or subtracting any value from, the average of the number of columns of the sensors 4 that responded to a contact with a finger. The threshold value does not need to be an integer and instead a capacitance value may be used. Further, the threshold value used for determining the contact range may be discarded upon locking, and calibration can be performed to update threshold value every time the terminal is unlocked. Instead of performing calibration upon unlocking, calibration may be performed only at the first time the portable terminal 0 is turned on. It may also be performed by selecting a function for calibration from a setting menu or the like. Furthermore, the first embodiment of the present invention performed calibration on the basis of the contact range of either the finger tip input or the finger pad input. Alternatively, the contact ranges of both the finger tip input and the finger pad input may be obtained to set a plurality of threshold values.
A method for distinguishing the finger tip input and the finger pad input will be described in more details below.
A way of moving an icon utilizing the difference between contact ranges of the finger tip input and the finger pad input will be described in detail below.
As described above, the first embodiment allows the user to make more intuitive input. The contact range described herein may be the number of sensors responded or the maximum number of the columns of sensors responded. When an application for finger pad input with a wide contact area is not set or applied to the terminal, the process of determining contact area can be omitted and contact operation may be performed uniformly.
[Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment of the present invention relates to a portable terminal 0 using a password. The second embodiment is characterized in that it stores not only a numeric password but also a difference in the contact range with the aim of enhancing security. A description is made for an example of the enhanced security function that incorporates a four-digit password and a difference in the contact range with reference to;
The process for password registration will be first described with reference to the flow chart of
The user selects and touches any numbers among numbers 0 to 9 displayed on a touch panel 1 by either the finger tip input or the finger pad input. The selected numbers are registered as input numerals (S2006). Then, the control unit 3 compares the contact range with the threshold value. When the contact range is equal to or smaller than the threshold value (S2007: Yes), the control unit 3 stores the input numeral in association with the finger tip input (S2008). A message as shown in
The control unit 3 displays a message as shown in
A method for cancelling or unlocking the password will be next described below with reference to
As can be seen in
It is to be noted that a plurality of input methods may be registered for one password. For example, in the case shown in FIG, 12B, three types of input methods are registered for one password and a specific operation is assigned for each of them: input method 1 is for displaying a normal standby screen, input method 2 is for displaying a mail creating screen, and input method 3 is for starting an application. A user can start a desired operation easily by way of unlocking the password, thus contributing to improved convenience. Not to mention, a plurality of input methods may be registered for a plurality of passwords as well.
Using the above system, a user can complicate cancellation of a lock by making a simple input to enhance security. The portable terminal 0 can thus handle user's highly confidential information, which makes the terminal more useful.
Security can be enhanced by only storing, in addition to the password registered, the input method for each of the password numbers. An increase in storage capacity can be sufficiently suppressed.
From the view of a user, the user only needs to remember the input method for each password number to unlock the portable terminal 0. Burdens on the user for memorization can thus be alleviated. It is also advantageous in that when a user has to tell others the way to unlock the portable terminal 0, the user only needs to tell the password numbers and the input method for each of the password numbers.
Although the second embodiment employed a password composed of numerals only, the present invention is not limited to this. The password may be composed of alphabets, symbols, figures, patterns, colors, or other elements, or combinations thereof. In addition, the number of digits of a password is not limited to four and the number may instead be one, two, or a greater numeral.
The process for password registration (
In the embodiment of the present invention, calibration is performed by a user touching a single point. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the calibration performed during unlocking as described for the first embodiment may be applied. The user may also start calibration by calling up a particular function from the setting menu. Incidentally, during the password cancellation, the message informing the fact that the difference in contact ranges are detected may be not shown (hidden), and when only the numbers are correct, a message may be displayed to inform that the difference in the contact range is also registered. Numerals and input methods may also be hidden and not shown during password input. While a threshold value is used for distinguishing the finger tip input and the finger pad input in the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. The determination of an input method may be conducted in a manner such that records both contact ranges of the finger tip input and the finger pad input, and when a input is made, compares the input contact range with the data, whereby selecting the closer one as the method of the particular input.
The operation of distinguishing the difference in the contact range may be omitted in particular situations of input. For example, the system may be adapted so that the classification based on a difference in contact ranges is not performed when the button switch is pressed or when more than two points are touched for multi-touch input.
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