The present disclosure relates to a control method for an information apparatus and a program.
Technologies for remotely monitoring or remotely controlling one or more target devices using one remote controller are proposed.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for remotely operating one or more target devices from a monitor of a television set. Specifically, icons for the one or more target devices are displayed on the right side of a monitor screen. When a desired one of the icons is selected (i), a floor plan is displayed on the left side of the monitor screen (ii). When a pointer is moved to the location of installation of a target device desired to be operated in the floor plan (iii), an operation screen for the target device selected by moving the pointer is displayed on the monitor screen (iv) (paragraphs [0138] to [0140] and FIGS. 25A and 25B).
Patent Document 2 discloses a technology for controlling one or more target devices using a single remote controller. Specifically, a floor plan of each room and the condition within the room are displayed on a liquid crystal monitor of the remote controller. For example, the liquid crystal monitor displays a illumination mark displayed in the case where an illumination device of a certain room is turned on, a room temperature mark that indicates the current temperature of a certain room, a lock mark in the shape of a hatched window displayed in the case where a window of a certain room is locked, a device/facility mark that indicates the status or the like of a control target object, a mark that indicates the amount of hot water in the case where the control target is a bath, and so forth (paragraphs [0037] to [0041] and FIG. 6).
Patent Document 3 relates to a technology for remotely controlling and remotely monitoring open/close operation and the state of an electric building material (such as a hallway door or a skylight). Specifically, a monitor screen of a personal computer displays floor plans for first and second floors of a property, a picture of the electric building material (such as a hallway door or a skylight) and a state display icon that indicates the open/close state of the electric building material are displayed at the corresponding position on the floor plans. When the state display icon is selected, an operation screen for the selected electric building material is displayed in another window. The operation screen includes an open operation button, a close operation button, an operation monitor screen, and a button for hiding the operation screen (paragraph [0025] and FIGS. 4, 5, and 6).
Patent Document 4 discloses a user interface including a floor plan and an icon. Examples of the icon include an icon representing a receptacle, an icon representing a digital image frame, and an icon representing an illumination device (FIGS. 7 and 8B).
Patent Document 5 discloses a user interface of an illumination system. When an icon associated with a certain light source is dragged into a target region on a screen and moved toward the center of the target region, the intensity of light from the corresponding light source is increased.
However, Patent Documents 1 to 5 described above need a further improvement.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-104567
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-138979
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-213107
Patent Document 4: U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,223
Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent No. 5128489
In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature a control method for control method for an information apparatus having a display and being connected to a network, one or more target devices being controlled over the network, the control method causing a computer of the information apparatus to: display a first display screen on the display when display of the first display screen is selected, the first display screen displaying one or more control icons that allow operation or state confirmation of the one or more target devices; display a second display screen representing a floor plan of a building on the display when display of the second display screen is selected, and display one or more device icons respectively representing the one or more target devices on the second display screen representing the floor plan, the floor plan represented on the second display screen including one or more rooms, the one or more rooms including information representing an arrangement position at which each of the one or more target devices is arranged, and the one or more device icons respectively representing the one or more target devices being displayed at a position corresponding to the information representing the arrangement position of each of the one or more target devices included in the floor plan; when the second display screen is selected, and when selection of a device icon representing one target device included in the floor plan is sensed in a region corresponding to a room including information representing the arrangement position of the one target device, display a first control screen on the display as overlapped on the second display screen representing the floor plan, the first control screen allowing at least operation or the state confirmation of the target device corresponding to the sensed device icon; and output a control command to the network on the basis of an operation on the first control screen, the control command allowing operation or the state confirmation of the target device corresponding to the one target device.
According to the aspect described above, it is possible to embody a further improvement.
These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a system, a method, and a computer program, and any combination of systems, methods, and computer programs.
(Story Before Inventing Aspect According to Present Disclosure)
First, the point of view of an aspect according to the present disclosure will be described.
In Patent Document 1 described above, icons for one or more target devices are displayed on the right side of a monitor screen, and a floor plan is displayed on the left side of the monitor screen. That is, the icons for the one or more target devices and the floor plan are displayed separately from each other, and the icons for the one or more target devices are not movable. Therefore, the location of installation of a target device desired to be operated in the floor plan is designated by moving a pointer. Then, an operation screen is displayed.
In Patent Document 1 described above, because of the configuration described above, the number of operation steps to be taken to display an operation screen for a desired target device is large, from (i) to (iv) described above. Therefore, when one or more target devices are remotely monitored or remotely controlled using one remote controller, the operation steps (i) to (iv) described above are required to operate each target device, which complicates operation. This requires a larger number of process steps to be taken by a portable information terminal before a desired target device among the one or more target devices is operated simply because remote controllers for the one or more target devices are integrated into one, which requires a larger number of process operations to be performed by a user.
Patent Document 2 described above describes only displaying the state of each target device, and does not describe at all remotely controlling operation of each target device. Therefore, although the one or more target devices can be remotely monitored using one remote controller, the one or more target devices cannot be controlled.
In Patent Document 3 described above, open/close operation and the state of an electric building material (such as a hallway door or a skylight) are remotely controlled and remotely monitored using a personal computer. However, the content of the remote control is just simple control of open/close operation. In addition, as shown in
Patent Document 4 described above merely describes an example in which one illumination device and one digital image frame are simply used on one floor (
However, although two or more illumination devices are occasionally used on one floor in the real life, Patent Document 4 does not describe a case with a plurality of illumination devices. Therefore, it is difficult to specify at what location on the same floor the illumination device is situated, and the relationship between the illumination device and the location is unclear. In this respect, in Patent Document 4 described above, when an operation screen is opened, the operation screen indicates in which room is the illumination device is situated (
Further, when a network device is selected in the lower left field in FIG. 7 of Patent Document 4 described above, a description of the selected network device appears in the lower right field, and the description includes in which room the network device is installed. However, an operation in the lower section is required separately from that for the floor plan in the upper section, and therefore it is necessary to perform an operation in the lower section and then an operation in the upper section in order to discriminate the relationship between the illumination device and the location. This increases the number of process steps to be taken within the device, the number of operations to be performed by the user, and the number of preparations to be made before a desired operation is reached, which complicates the operation.
Patent Document 5 described above only considers controlling an illumination device for each room such as a bedroom, and does not consider controlling illumination devices for each floor. For example, an illumination device in a room corresponding to a first target region may be turned on by moving an icon from the outside of the first target region to the inside of the first target region. However, when an icon is moved from the first target region to a second target region that is adjacent to the first target region, the icon is moved into the second target region. Therefore, although an illumination device in a room corresponding to the second target region is turned on, an illumination device in a room corresponding to the first target region is turned off since the icon is moved out of the first target region.
Consequently, Patent Document 5 described above does not consider a case where there are two or more target regions on one floor. Therefore, it is unknown at what location on the same floor the illumination device is situated, and the relationship between the illumination device and the location is unclear. In addition, Patent Document 5 does not consider a case where two or more illumination devices are situated in the same target region, either. As a result, assuming that one or more operation targets are remotely operated using a common remote controller, integration into one remote controller rather incurs an erroneous operation when operating a desired operation target, which complicates the operation.
Based on the considerations described above, the inventors have conceived various aspects of the present disclosure to be described below.
A control method for an information apparatus having a display and being connected to a network, one or more target devices being controlled over the network,
the control method causing a computer of the information apparatus to:
display a first display screen on the display when display of the first display screen is selected, the first display screen displaying one or more control icons that allow operation or state confirmation of the one or more target devices;
display a second display screen representing a floor plan of a building on the display when display of the second display screen is selected, and display one or more device icons respectively representing the one or more target devices on the second display screen representing the floor plan, the floor plan represented on the second display screen including one or more rooms, the one or more rooms including information representing an arrangement position at which each of the one or more target devices is arranged, and the one or more device icons respectively representing the one or more target devices being displayed at a position corresponding to the information representing the arrangement position of each of the one or more target devices included in the floor plan;
when the second display screen is selected, and when selection of a device icon representing one target device included in the floor plan is sensed in a region corresponding to a room including information representing the arrangement position of the one target device, display a first control screen on the display as overlapped on the second display screen representing the floor plan, the first control screen allowing at least operation or the state confirmation of the target device corresponding to the sensed device icon; and
output a control command to the network on the basis of an operation on the first control screen, the control command allowing operation or the state confirmation of the target device corresponding to the one target device.
In this case, both the first display screen which displays the control icon that allows operation or confirmation of the state of each of the one or more target devices and the second display screen which represents the floor plan of the building and which displays the device icon representing each of the one or more target devices are selectably provided.
For example, in the case where the first display screen is selected, and in the case where the user attempts to operate the television set located in front of the user, the first display screen includes only one control icon for the television set if there is only one television set in the building. This allows the user to directly select the control icon for the television set without an erroneous operation, and to display the first control screen corresponding to the television set without an erroneous operation.
On the other hand, although it is possible to operate or confirm the state of the individual target devices in the case where the first display screen is selected for display, the first display screen focuses on the individual target devices, and thus the relationship between the target device and the location at which the target device is disposed is unclear. Therefore, for a plurality of target devices of the same type installed in the same building, such as the air conditioners or the illumination devices, for example, it is unclear the air conditioner or the illumination device in which room is the control target, which may incur an erroneous operation.
According to the present configuration, the second display screen is provided in addition to the first display screen to allow the user to select a desired one of the first display screen and the second display screen.
Consequently, in the case where the second display screen is selected, the relationship between the target device and the location at which the target device is disposed is made definite. Therefore, also for a plurality of target devices of the same type installed in the same building, such as the air conditioners or illumination devices, for example, a discrimination as to the air conditioner or the illumination device in which room is the control target is facilitated. This prevents the user from erroneously operating the air conditioner or the illumination device installed in a room that is different from the desired room.
In addition, the floor plan represented on the second display screen includes information representing the arrangement position of the one or more target devices, and the device icon representing each of the one or more target devices is displayed at a position corresponding to the information representing the arrangement position of each of the target devices. In the case where the second display screen is selected, and when selection of a device icon representing one target device included in the floor plan is sensed in a region corresponding to a room including information representing the arrangement position of the target device, the first control screen is displayed on the display, the first control screen allowing operation or confirmation of the state of the one target device.
That is, the device icon representing each of the one or more target devices is displayed at a position corresponding to the information representing the arrangement position of each of the one or more target devices included in the floor plan. Therefore, the process step of displaying the floor plan separately from display of the device icon as in Patent Document 1 described above is no longer necessary. In addition, when selection of a device icon representing one target device included in the floor plan is sensed in a region corresponding to a room including information representing the arrangement position of the one target device, a corresponding operation screen is displayed. Thus, the process of moving a pointer to the installation position of the target device desired to be operated and displayed in the floor plan as in Patent Document 1 described above is no longer necessary.
Further, the device icon representing each of the one or more target devices is displayed at a position corresponding to the information representing the arrangement position of each of the one or more target devices included in the floor plan. This allows the user to recognize which device icon corresponds to which target device in which room without inputting other operations before the first control screen is displayed as overlapped on the second display screen. This prevents the user from erroneously operating the target device in a room that is different from the desired target device in the desired room. Further, even in the case where two or more target devices of the same type as that of the desired target device are provided in the desired room, the user can be prevented from erroneously operating the target device that is different from the desired target device in the desired room.
As described above, the user can display the first control screen for the desired target device in the desired room by only selecting the device icon representing one target device included in the floor plan in a region corresponding to a room including information representing the arrangement position of the one target device. This reduces the number of process steps to be performed within the information apparatus and the number of operations to be performed by the user before the first control screen is displayed. Hence, it is possible to prevent a situation where the user displays the first control screen for a target device that is different from the desired target device through an erroneous operation. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of processes to be performed within the information apparatus or the number of operations to be performed by the user when remote controllers for one or more target devices are integrated into one information apparatus. This reduces the time before the desired target device is operated, and prevents the user from erroneously displaying the first control screen for a different target device through an erroneous operation.
In the aspect described above, for example, when the first display screen is selected, and when selection of the control icon is sensed, a second control screen may be displayed on the display, the second control screen allowing operation or the state confirmation of the target device corresponding to the sensed control icon; and
a control command may be output to the network based on an operation on the second control screen, the control command allowing at least operation or the state confirmation of the target device corresponding to the sensed control icon.
In this case, even in the case where the first display screen is selected, as in the case where the second display screen is selected, the user can select the control icon, display the second control screen for a desired device, and operate or confirm the state of the device. The second control screen may be a control screen that is the same as or different from the first control screen displayed as overlapped on the second display screen.
In the aspect described above, for example, when the first control screen is displayed as overlapped on the second display screen representing the floor plan, the device icons representing the one or more target devices may be moved out of a display region of the first control screen.
In this case, when the first control screen is displayed as overlapped on the second display screen representing the floor plan, all the device icons are moved out of the display region of the first control screen. This prevents any of the device icons from being hidden under the first control screen and not displayed. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to input an extra instruction for erasing the first control screen in order to search for a device icon that is different from the selected device icon. That is, it is no longer necessary for the user to input an instruction for erasing the first control screen in order to redisplay a device icon representing a different target device after an operation on the target device corresponding to the selected device icon is finished. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of process steps and the number of user operations to be performed since an operation of a certain target device is finished until an operation on another target device is performed.
In addition, selection of the next desired device icon is allowed with the first control screen displayed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the time since the device icon for the next target device is selected until the target device is operated. As a result, it is possible to reduce the time interval from an operation on one target device to an operation on the next target device in remotely operating a plurality of target devices successively using the information apparatus.
In the aspect described above, for example, when the first control screen is displayed as overlapped on the second display screen representing the floor plan, the device icons representing the one or more target devices may be moved out of a display region of the second control screen.
In this case, when the first control screen is displayed as overlapped on the second display screen representing the floor plan, the device icons representing the one or more target devices are moved out of the display region of the second control screen. This prevents the device icons from being hidden under the first control screen and not displayed. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to input an extra instruction for erasing the first control screen in order to search for a device icon that is different from the selected device icon. That is, it is no longer necessary for the user to input an instruction for erasing the first control screen in order to redisplay a device icon representing a different target device after an operation on the target device corresponding to the selected device icon is finished. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of process steps and the number of user operations to be performed since an operation of a certain target device is finished until an operation on another target device is performed.
In addition, selection of the next desired device icon is allowed with the first control screen displayed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the time before an operation on the next target device. As a result, it is possible to reduce the interval from an operation on one target device to an operation on the next target device in remotely operating a plurality of target devices successively using the information apparatus.
In the aspect described above, for example, when the device icons representing the one or more target devices are moved out of the display region of the second control screen representing the floor plan, the device icons representing the one or more target devices may be arranged in accordance with the one or more rooms that correspond to the one or more target devices and that are included in the floor plan represented by the second display screen.
In this case, display control in which the device icons are arranged in accordance with the rooms is performed in the case where a large number of device icons are provided, for example. This makes it easy for the user to select a device icon corresponding to the next target device in controlling or confirming the state of the next target device in the same room.
Thus, it is possible to reduce the operation interval from an operation on one target device to an operation on the next target device in remotely operating a plurality of target devices successively using the information apparatus even in the case of controlling or confirming the state of a large number of target devices, for example.
In the aspect described above, for example, when the device icons representing the one or more target devices are moved out of the display region of the second control screen representing the floor plan, the device icons representing the one or more target devices may be arranged in accordance with model types of the one or more target devices.
In this case, display control in which the device icons are arranged in accordance with the model types is performed in the case where a large number of device icons are provided, for example. This makes it easy for the user to select a device icon corresponding to the next target device in successively controlling or confirming the state of the target devices of the same type.
In the aspect described above, for example, the information representing the arrangement positions of the one or more target devices comprises images representing the one or more target devices.
In this case, it is possible to specify the arrangement position of the target device by recognizing the image of the target device represented on the floor plan using an image recognition technology, for example. As a result, the information apparatus can dispose the device icon at an appropriate position on the floor plan without causing the user to input the display position of the device icon on the floor plan.
In the aspect described above, for example, the information representing the arrangement positions of the one or more target devices comprises text information representing the one or more target devices.
In this case, it is possible for the information apparatus to specify the arrangement position of the target device by recognizing the text information for the target device represented on the floor plan using a character recognition technology, for example. As a result, the information apparatus can dispose the device icon at an appropriate position on the floor plan without causing the user to input the display position of the device icon on the floor plan.
In the configuration described above, the floor plan may be a plan view that planarly shows an arrangement and a shape of rooms included in each of the one or more floors of the building.
In this case, the target device can be operated while specifically recognizing the floor plan for each floor, which allows operation with presence.
In the configuration described above, the floor plan may be a diagram in which blocks representing the one or more rooms in the building are arranged in a matrix for each floor of the building.
In this case, a diagram in which blocks representing the rooms are arranged for each floor is used as the floor plan. Therefore, the rooms forming each floor are represented orderly, which allows the user to immediately recognize what rooms form each floor.
In the configuration described above, the information apparatus may include a device list in which coordinates on the floor plan corresponding to actual arrangement positions of the one or more target devices are registered in advance, and the one or more device icons are arranged at positions indicated by the coordinates in the device list.
In this case, the device icons can be disposed accurately at positions on the floor plan corresponding to the actual arrangement positions of the target devices.
In the configuration described above, the information apparatus may include a device list, information regarding rooms in which the one or more devices are arranged being registered in the device list, and the one or more device icons are arranged within the blocks representing the corresponding rooms, in accordance with the information regarding the rooms registered in the device list.
In this case, the device icons can be disposed accurately within the blocks representing the rooms in which the corresponding target devices are actually disposed.
(The Present Disclosure)
The present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same symbols are used for the same constituent elements.
In the present disclosure, a home controller which can singly control one or more devices will be described.
(Overall Configuration)
The home controller 100 and one or more devices 200 (for example, a device A 200 and a device B 200) are disposed in a house. The server 300 is disposed in a cloud center. The home controller 100, the device 200, and the server 300 communicate with each other via a wired or wireless network. For example, the device 200 and the home controller 100 are communicably connected to each other via a wireless or wired in-home network, and the home controller 100, the device 200, and the server 300 are communicably connected to each other via an external network such as the Internet.
The home controller 100 is not necessarily disposed in the house, and may be disposed outside the house. In this case, a user controls the one or more devices 200 from a location away from the home.
A portable information terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal may be adopted as the home controller 100. It should be noted, however, that the smartphone and the tablet terminal are merely exemplary, and a portable information terminal of a button type such as a cellular phone may be adopted as the home controller 100.
The devices 200 such as the air conditioner 201 shown in
The display 101 is formed from a touch panel display, for example, and displays a user interface that allows the user to operate the home controller 100. The user can input various operations to the home controller 100 by contacting the display 101.
The touch panel control section 102 recognizes an operation performed on the display 101 by the user, interprets the content of the operation, and notifies the other constituent elements of the content of the operation. For example, if an object is displayed at a position on the display 101 tapped on by the user, the touch panel control section 102 determines that the object is selected by the user. A variety of GUI parts that receive a user operation such as buttons are adopted as the object.
The display control section 103 generates a GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the home controller 100, and causes the display 101 to display the GUI. The storage section 104 stores information that is necessary for operation of the home controller 100 such as a device list managed by the device management section 105.
The device management section 105 manages the control target devices 200 using the device list stored in the storage section 104. In addition, the device management section 105 detects a device 200 when the device 200 is connected to the in-home network. Further, the device management section 105 acquires home information 2700 to be discussed later from the server 300, stores the acquired home information 2700 in the storage section 104, and manages the home information 2700. The device control section 106 issues a control command for the devices 200. The communication control section 107 controls communication between the home controller 100 and the devices 200 and communication between the home controller 100 and the server 300. In addition, the communication control section 107 transmits a variety of data to the devices 200 or the server 300 upon receiving a request to transmit such data from other blocks, and receives data transmitted from the devices 200 or the server 300 to deliver the data to the relevant block.
The display 101 may be a normal display rather than a touch panel display. In this case, the user may use an external input device such as a mouse (not shown) to input an instruction to select an object by moving a pointer displayed on the display 101 and clicking on a desired object. That is, in the present disclosure, a series of operations performed by the user by contacting the display 101 may be replaced with operations of moving a pointer and clicking using an external input device such as a mouse.
As shown in
The state management section 202 manages the state of the device 200. The content of management of the device 200 performed by the state management section 202 differs in accordance with the type of the device 200. For example, if the device 200 is an illumination device, the state management section 202 manages whether the illumination device is currently turned on or turned off. The storage section 204 stores information related to the state of the device 200 managed by the state management section 202. The communication control section 207 controls communication between the device 200 and the home controller 100 and communication between the device 200 and the server 300. In addition, the communication control section 207 transmits a variety of data to the home controller 100 or the server 300 upon receiving a request to transmit such data from other blocks, and receives data transmitted from the home controller 100 or the server 300 to deliver the data to the relevant block.
As shown in
The device control section 302 transmits a control command to the device 200 in response to a request from the home controller 100. The storage section 304 stores information that is necessary for operation of the server 300 such as the home information 2700 and the information related to the state of the device 200 managed by the home information management section 301. The communication control section 307 controls communication between the server 300 and the home controller 100 and communication between the server 300 and the device 200 as with the communication control section 107. In addition, the communication control section 307 transmits a variety of data to the home controller 100 or the device 200 upon receiving a request to transmit such data from other blocks, and receives data transmitted from the home controller 100 or the device 200 to deliver the data to the relevant block.
The application 401 is application software for causing the portable information terminal to function as the home controller 100, and is executed by a processor of the home controller 100. The home controller 100 may read the application 401 from a computer readable recording medium to implement the application 401, or may download the application 401 from a network to implement the application 401. The OS 402 is basic software of the portable information terminal, and is executed by the processor of the home controller 100. The memory 403 is formed from a storage device such as a RAM and a ROM of the home controller 100, and stores a group of data included in the application 401. The processor of the home controller 100 executes the application 401 to embody the functions of the touch panel control section 102, the display control section 103, the storage section 104, the device management section 105, the device control section 106, and the communication control section 107 shown in
It should be noted, however, that in the present disclosure, the home controller 100 may be implemented by the application 401 alone, may be implemented by the application 401 and the OS 402, may be implemented by the application 401, the OS 402, and the memory 403, or may be implemented by the application 401, the OS 402, the memory 403, and other hardware (not shown). In any present disclosure, the home controller 100 according to the present disclosure can be embodied. In the present disclosure, the processor and the storage device forming the portable information terminal, for example, form a computer. One of a CPU, an FPGA, and an ASIC or a combination of two or more of these may be adopted as the processor. One of a ROM, a RAM, and a hard disk or a combination of two or more of these may be adopted as the storage device.
The device icon 501 is an icon displayed as overlapped on the floor plan 500 and representing the device 200. When the touch panel control section 102 senses a tap on the device icon 501 performed by the user, the display control section 103 causes the display 101 to display a device control screen 502 to be discussed later. This allows the user to control the device 200 by operating the device control screen 502.
The device icon 501 is prepared for each device 200. The display control section 103 disposes the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on the basis of the actual arrangement of the device 200 within the house. Information as to at what position on the floor plan 500 the device icon 501 is to be disposed is registered in an arrangement 3104 of a device list 3100 to be discussed later. Here, a position on the floor plan 500 corresponding to the actual arrangement position of the device 200 is registered in the arrangement 3104. Thus, the display control section 103 can dispose the device icon 501 at a position on the floor plan 500 corresponding to the actual arrangement position of the device 200 by disposing the device icon 501 at the position registered in the arrangement 3104 of the device list 3100.
In the floor plan 500 shown in
In the example of
The button with a text “TO LIST UI” displayed at the lower right of the basic screen is the device list display change button 503, which is a button for switching the screen display from the basic screen to a device list display screen to be discussed later (see
In the foregoing description, one device icon 501 is correlated with one device 200. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and one device icon 501 may be correlated with a plurality of devices 200 so that the one device icon 501 may be used in common to the plurality of devices 200. For example, in the case where there are two illumination devices in a living room, the two illumination devices may be represented by one device icon 501.
In this case, when the device icon 501 representing the two illumination devices is tapped on by the user, the display control section 103 causes the display 101 to display a device control screen 502 that allows simultaneous control of the two illumination devices. This allows the user to control the two illumination devices at the same time. A plurality of illumination devices are often disposed in a large room such as the living room. In the case where the user turns on or off the illumination devices in the living room, the user often turns on or off all the illumination devices disposed in the living room, rather than turning on or off some of the illumination devices. In this case, if it is possible to collectively turn on or off all the illumination devices, the number of operations to be performed by the user can be reduced. Thus, one device icon 501 may be correlated with a plurality of devices 200 that are highly likely to be operated by the user at the same time to cause one device control screen 502 to be displayed.
In the case where the device icon 501 represents a plurality of devices 200, the display control section 103 may display the device icon 501 at a position on the floor plan 500 corresponding to the actual arrangement position of one of the devices 200. Alternatively, the display control section 103 may display the device icon 501 representing the plurality of devices 200 at a predetermined location of a room in which the plurality of devices 200 are disposed.
In order to dispose the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on the basis of the actual arrangement of the device 200 within the house, the user moves the device icon 501 to an appropriate position on the floor plan 500. The user can move the device icon 501 to a desired position by dragging the device icon 501 while holding down the device icon 501. These operations are executed at the timing when the device icon 501 is added such as when the home controller 100 is initially utilized and when a new device 200 is purchased.
Specifically, when the touch panel control section 102 senses a drag on the device icon 501, the device management section 105 registers the position on the floor plan 500 of the device icon 501 after the movement in the arrangement 3104 of the device list 3100 to be discussed later. This allows a position on the floor plan 500 corresponding to the actual arrangement position of the device 200 to be registered in the arrangement 3104.
The initial display position of the device icon 501 may be determined in advance by the system, and may be a predetermined position outside the display region of the floor plan 500 or a predetermined position within a predetermined room on the floor plan 500, for example. The method of disposing the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on the basis of the actual arrangement of the device 200 within the house is not limited thereto, and the method described below may be used.
As shown in
Consequently, in the case where the floor plan 500 includes arrangement information for the device icons 501, the display control section 103 may generate the basic screen of
For example, in an exemplary floor plan 4401 for the first floor of
In an exemplary floor plan 4501 for the first floor of
The display control section 103 may detect the display position of arrangement information by recognizing the arrangement information included in the floor plan 500 using a text recognition technology or an image recognition technology commonly utilized.
Here, the touch panel control section 102 may judge that the staircase region 603 is tapped on if the position tapped on by the user is positioned within a region surrounded by four vertexes of a staircase registered in a room type 2902 of room information 2900 (see
Further, the floor display may be switched by not only tapping on the staircase region 603 but also a swipe operation on the display 101. With the floor plan 601 for the first floor displayed on the basic screen of the home controller 100, the touch panel control section 102 senses a swipe operation performed from the right to the left on the display 101 by the user. Then, the display control section 103 switches the floor display on the basic screen from the first floor to the second floor. Similarly, with the floor plan 602 for the second floor displayed on the basic screen of the home controller 100, the touch panel control section 102 senses a swipe operation performed from the left to the right on the display 101 by the user. Then, the display control section 103 switches the floor display on the basic screen from the second floor to the first floor. The floor display may be switched by a swipe operation in the vertical direction.
An image of the air conditioner is displayed in the device control screen 502 to allow the user to immediately recognize that the device control screen 502 corresponds to the air conditioner. This prevents an erroneous operation. An image that indicates the air flow direction is displayed on the lower side of the image of the air conditioner to allow the user to select a desired air flow direction by repeatedly tapping on the image, for example. A numeral displayed within the device control screen 502 indicates the current set temperature of the air conditioner. A button in the shape of a triangle that points upward in the device control screen 502 is a temperature increase button. A button in the shape of a triangle that points downward is a temperature decrease button. Pressing the temperature increase button once increases the set temperature of the air conditioner by a predetermined temperature (for example, 0.5 degrees). Pressing the temperature decrease button once decreases the set temperature of the air conditioner by a predetermined temperature (for example, 0.5 degrees).
Examples of the method of disposing the device icons 501 in the display state of the device control screen 502 include the following methods.
A first method is to dispose the device icons 501 outside the display region of the device control screen 502 as shown in
This prevents the device icons 501 from being hidden by the device control screen 502. Therefore, in the case where the device control screen 502 for a device 200 is currently displayed and the user attempts to cause the device control screen 502 for another device 200 to be displayed, it is not necessary for the user to temporarily erase the currently displayed device control screen 502 and search for the device icon 501 for the relevant device 200.
Here, the display control section 103 may decide the arrangement position of each device icon 501 on the outer periphery of an ellipse having a shape determined in advance in accordance with the size of the device control screen 502, and dispose the device icon 501 at the decided position, for example. Examples of the method of deciding the arrangement position include a method of arranging all the device icons 501 as display targets at equal intervals on the outer periphery of an ellipse, and a method of disposing the device icons 501 such that the angles formed by lines connecting between adjacent device icons 501 and the center of an ellipse are equal to each other. Alternatively, the display control section 103 may divide the outer periphery of an ellipse into four sections corresponding to the upper, lower, left, and right portions of the device control screen 502, and dispose the device icons 501 such that the number of device icons 501 in each section is the same and the device icons 501 in each section are arranged at equal intervals. The device icon 501 disposed at the closest position on the floor plan 500 may be disposed at the decided arrangement position.
In the foregoing description, the device icons 501 are arranged in an elliptical arrangement. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the device icons 501 may be arranged in a circular arrangement. Also in this case, the arrangement position of the device icons 501 may be decided using the same method as in the case where the device icons 501 are arranged in an elliptical arrangement. Other examples of the shape of arrangement of the device icons 501 used when the device icons 501 are retracted out of the display region of the device control screen 502 include polygonal arrangements such as triangular, rectangular, and pentagonal arrangements.
A second method is to dispose the device icons 501 in one line outside the display region of the device control screen 502 and the floor plan 500 and inside the display region of the display 101 as shown in
In
In the case where all the device icons 501 cannot be disposed on the left side of the floor plan 500, the display control section 103 may scroll the device icons 501 upward or downward in accordance with a swipe operation performed upward or downward on the device icons 501 disposed in one vertical line on the left side to cause the device icons 501, which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display 101.
This allows the device icons 501, which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display 101 to allow the user to select the device icons 501. In the case where the device icons 501 are displayed in one horizontal line and all the device icons 501 may not displayed, the display control section 103 may scroll the device icons 501 leftward or rightward in accordance with a swipe operation performed leftward or rightward on the device icons 501 disposed in one horizontal line to cause the device icons 501, which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display 101.
In the display state of the device control screen 502, the display control section 103 may display the device icon 501 selected by the user in a display mode that is different from that for the unselected device icons 501. This allows the user to easily recognize the selected device icon 501.
For example, as shown in
In the display state of the device control screen 502, the device icon 501 selected by the user may be disposed as distinguished from the unselected device icons 501. This allows the user to easily recognize the selected device icon 501.
For example, as shown in
Besides, for example, as shown in
The order of arrangement of the device icons 501 taken when the device icons 501 are retracted out of the display region of the floor plan 500 may be determined such that devices 200 that are closer in position of arrangement on the floor plan 500 to the device icon 501 selected by the user are disposed to be closer in order of arrangement to the selected device icon 501. Alternatively, the order of arrangement of the device icons 501 may be determined such that the device icons 501 for devices 200 that are more likely to be used together with the device 200 selected by the user are disposed to be closer in order of arrangement to the device icon 501 for the device 200 selected by the user. For example, the television set and the Blu-ray recorder are highly likely to be used together by the user. Therefore, when the device icon 501 for the television set is selected by the user, the device icon 501 for the Blu-ray recorder may be displayed next to the device icon 501 for the television set. In order to embody such a configuration, a table that indicates combinations of devices 200 that are highly likely to be used together may be stored in advance in the storage section 104, and the arrangement of the device icons 501 may be decided in accordance with the table.
In any of the methods of disposing the device icons 501 taken when the device control screen 502 is displayed described above, in addition, the display control section 103 may dispose the device icons 501 as grouped under particular conditions.
For example, in
Besides, the display control section 103 may dispose the device icons 501 as grouped in accordance with the type of the devices 200. For example, in
The display control section 103 may discriminate the type of the devices 200 in accordance with the content registered in a device type 3102 of the device list 3100 (see
Although the device icons 501 for the devices 200 of the same type are grouped into one group in the foregoing description, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the display control section 103 may classify the devices 200 into categories matching the device type, group the device icons 501 in accordance with the category, and dispose the device icons 501 on the left side of the floor plan 500 in groups.
For example, as shown in the lower left of
Examples of the other categories include entertainment devices and air-conditioning devices. The entertainment device category includes devices 200 such as a television set, a recorder, a player, and a home theater system. The air-conditioning device category includes devices 200 such as an air conditioner, an air purifier, a humidifier, a dehumidifier, and a home air circulation system.
For example, if the device icons 501 for the television set, the recorder, the air conditioner, and the air purifier are disposed on the floor plan 500 and the device icon 501 for the television set is selected by the user, the device icons 501 for the television set and the recorder classified into the entertainment device category are grouped into one group and disposed on the left side of the floor plan 500, and the device icons 501 for the air conditioner and the air purifier classified into the air-conditioning device category are grouped into one group and disposed on the left side of the floor plan 500.
The display control section 103 may determine the category of the devices 200 from the content registered in the device type 3102 of the device list 3100. In this case, a classification table for determining the category of the devices 200 from the content registered in the device type 3102 may be stored in advance in the storage section 104, and the display control section 103 may reference the classification table to discriminate the category of the devices 200.
A variety of manners of classifying the devices 200 according to the device type may be adopted besides that described above. For example, as shown in
The method of grouping the device icons 501 on the basis of particular conditions and disposing the device icons 501 as described above may also be applied to the display mode in which the device icons 501 are retracted so as to surround the device control screen 502 as shown in
In this case, the background of the device control screen 502 is turned into a gray color to emphasize the device control screen 502, which allows the user to more definitely recognize the device control screen 502. In addition, the gray layer is translucent, and the floor plan 500 is not completely hidden. This allows the device control screen 502 to be operated with presence. The gray layer is image data having a color with low brightness such as gray and set to predetermined transparency.
The display control section 103 may decide the display order of the device control screen 502, the gray layer, and the floor plan 500 such that the device control screen 502 is the uppermost layer and the floor plan 500 is the lowermost layer, and synthesize these images. This prevents the device control screen 502 from being displayed as covered by the gray layer.
In a second display method, as shown in
For example, it is assumed that the user selects the device icon 501 for the air conditioner with a device ID 3101 of A shown in
Next, transition between the display state of the basic screen and the display state of the device control screen 502 will be described using
On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of
The operation described above is the same for the floor plan 500 for any floor displayed in the basic screen. For example, as shown in the left diagram of
On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of
Next, a method of switching from the display state of a certain device control screen 502 to the display state of another device control screen 502 will be described using
Consequently, when the user successively selects different device icons 501, switching is successively performed between the device control screens 502, which allows the user to successively control different devices 200. That is, in causing another device control screen 502 to be displayed while a certain device control screen 502 is displayed, it is no longer necessary for the user to input an operation of erasing the certain device control screen 502, and switching can be performed between the device control screens 502 with one touch operation.
In the display state of the device control screen 502, in the case where the user taps on the device icon 501 corresponding to the device control screen 502 being displayed, the display control section 103 may only erase the device control screen 502, and may not return to the basic screen. Such screen transition is shown in
In the left diagram of
On the other hand, in the hidden state of the device control screen 502, the user selects a desired device icon 501, and the touch panel control section 102 senses the selection. Then, the display control section 103 displays the device control screen 502 corresponding to the selected device icon 501. For example, in the right diagram of
Next, transition from the display state of the basic screen to the display state of the device control screen 502 represented through an animation will be described using
Next, transition from the display state of the basic screen to the display state of the device control screen 502 represented through an animation will be described using
Consequently, representing the screen transition through an animation can enhance the interest of the user in operating the device control screen 502 through screen rendering shown since the device icon 501 is selected until the device control screen 502 is displayed.
As shown in
When the user taps on the device details icon 2001 and the touch panel control section 102 senses the tap, the display control section 103 causes the device control screen 502 to be displayed as overlapped on the device list 2000. This allows the user to cause the device control screen 502 to be displayed and operate the device 200 as in the case where the device icon 501 is tapped on.
The device details icon 2001 is prepared for each device 200. The device details icon 2001 is different from the device icon 501 in representing not only an image representing the device 200 but also the on/off state and the operation state of the device 200. For example, the device details icon 2001 for the refrigerator displayed in the upper left of
In the device list 2000, the device details icons 2001 are displayed as classified on the basis of a classification criterion determined in advance. Examples of the classification criterion determined in advance include the type of the device 200, the room in which the device 200 is disposed, and the status of use of the device 200. In
In the example of
Returning to
Although switching can be made between the basic screen and the device list display screen in the foregoing description, the device list display screen may be utilized as the basic screen in place of the basic screen shown in
In the foregoing description, one device details icon 2001 is correlated with one device 200. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and one device details icon 2001 may be correlated with a plurality of devices 200 so that the one device details icon 2001 may be used in common to the plurality of devices 200. For example, in the case where there are two illumination devices in a living room, the two illumination devices may be represented by one device details icon 2001.
In this case, when the device details icon 2001 representing the two illumination devices is tapped on by the user, the display control section 103 causes the display 101 to display a device control screen 502 that allows simultaneous control of the two illumination devices. In this case, the same effect as that obtained in the case where one device icon 501 is used in common to a plurality of devices 200 is obtained. In the case where one device details icon 2001 is used in common to a plurality of illumination devices, the device details icon 2001 may display the on/off state and the operation state of each of two illumination devices.
In the basic screen, the device details icon 2001 may be used in place of the device icon 501. In the device list display screen, the device icon 501 may be used in place of the device details icon 2001. In addition, the device control screen 502 displayed in the case where the device details icon 2001 is selected and the device control screen 502 displayed in the case where the device icon 501 is selected may be the same as or different from each other. For example, the device details icon 2001 contains more information than that of the device icon 501, and therefore the device control screen 502 displayed in the case where the device details icon 2001 is selected may include more buttons and states than those of the device control screen 502 displayed in the case where the device icon 501 is selected.
Specifically, when the touch panel control section 102 senses a tap on the basic screen display button 2003, the display control section 103 switches the display screen on the display 101 to the basic screen from the device list display screen. On the other hand, in the display state of the basic screen, when the touch panel control section 102 senses a tap on the device list display change button 503, the display control section 103 switches the display screen on the display 101 from the basic screen to the device list display screen.
For example, in the case where the device list display screen is selected for display, and in the case where the user attempts to operate the television set located in front of the user, the device list display screen includes only one device details icon 2001 for the television set if there is only one television set in the house. This allows the user to directly select the device details icon 2001 for the television set without an erroneous operation, and to cause the device control screen 502 corresponding to the television set to be displayed.
On the other hand, in the case where the device list display screen is selected, the device list display screen focuses on the individual devices 200, and thus the relationship between the device 200 and the location at which the device 200 is disposed is unclear, although it is possible to operate or confirm the state of the individual devices 200. Therefore, for a plurality of devices 200 installed within the same building, such as the air conditioners or the illumination devices, for example, it is unclear the air conditioner or the illumination device in which room is the control target, which may incur an erroneous operation.
Thus, in the present disclosure, the basic screen is provided in addition to the device list display screen to allow selection from the basic screen and the device list display screen.
Consequently, in the case where the basic screen is selected, the relationship between the device 200 and the location at which the device 200 is disposed is made definite. Therefore, also for a plurality of devices 200 of the same type installed in the same building, such as the air conditioners or illumination devices, for example, a discrimination as to the air conditioner or the illumination device in which room is the control target is facilitated. This prevents the air conditioner or the illumination device installed in a room that is different from the desired room from being erroneously operated.
In the example in the right drawing of
On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of
Although only one device details icon 2001 is displayed in the display state of the device control screen 502 shown in the right diagram of
According to the configuration, the user can successively select the device details icons 2001 in the display state of the device control screen 502 to successively display other device control screens 502. Consequently, in causing another device control screen 502 to be displayed while a certain device control screen 502 is displayed, it is no longer necessary for the user to input an operation of erasing the certain device control screen 502, and switching can be performed between the device control screens 502 with one touch operation.
For example, in the right diagram of
Consequently, when the user selects the device icon 501 in the display state of the device control screen 502, the device control screen 502 corresponding to the device icon 501 can be directly displayed. Therefore, in the case where another device control screen 502 is to be displayed while a certain device control screen 502 is displayed, the other device control screen 502 can be displayed with one touch operation without inputting an operation of erasing the device control screen 502 being displayed. This allows the user to smoothly switch between the device control screens 502.
For example, in
Although the device icons 2601 are displayed translucently in
As shown in
The vertex information 2800 is information for adapting the floor plan 500 to a two-dimensional coordinate-axis space to allow the home controller 100 to interpret the floor plan 500. The room information 2900 is information for deciding the regions of rooms from the vertex information 2800. The vertex information 2800, the room information 2900, and the device list 4700 managed by the server will be described in detail below.
Consequently, with the vertex information 2800 and the room information 2900 provided, the home controller 100 can specify the regions of the rooms represented on the floor plan 500 by plotting the vertexes indicated by the vertex information 2800 on the image data for the floor plan 500 and connecting the vertexes indicated by the room coordinate 2903, and recognize the type of the rooms from the room type 2902.
The vertex information 2800 may be generated by a system administrator by causing the floor plan 500 to be displayed on a display of a personal computer, detecting vertexes from the displayed floor plan, and inputting the vertex ID and the vertex coordinate of the detected vertexes to the personal computer. The vertex information 2900 may also be generated by the system administrator by detecting rooms from the floor plan displayed on a display, and inputting the room ID, the room type, and the room coordinate of the detected rooms to a personal computer. Alternatively, the vertex information 2800 and the room information 2900 may be generated by taking in CAD data which are the original data for the floor plan 500.
The device ID 4701 is the identifier of the device 200. The device type 4702 indicates the type of the device 200. The model number 4703 indicates the model number of the device 200. The arrangement 4704 is a coordinate represented in the format of (X coordinate, Y coordinate, floor number) as with the vertex coordinate 2802, and indicates the arrangement of the device icon 501 corresponding to the device 200 on the floor plan 500.
The display control section 103 can dispose the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on the basis of the arrangement 4704, and display the basic screen and so forth. The capability information 4705 indicates the content for control of the device 200 and the state that can be acquired from the device 200. For example, the air conditioner with a device ID of A can be controlled for the temperature, the air flow direction, and the air flow amount. The control command transmission destination 4706 indicates the transmission destination of a control command for controlling the device 200. For example, the control command transmission destination 4706 for the air conditioner with a device ID of A is the device, and therefore a control command is directly transmitted from the home controller 100 to the device 200. Meanwhile, the control command transmission destination 4706 for the refrigerator with a device ID of C is the server, and therefore a control command is transmitted from the home controller 100 to the device 200 via the server 300. The control command is a command for operating the device 200 or confirming the state of the device 200.
The current state of the device 200 may be registered in the device list 4700. This allows the server 300 to notify the home controller 100 of the state of the relevant device 200 in the case where a request for confirmation of the state of the device 200 is made from the home controller 100.
As discussed above, in order to dispose the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on the basis of the actual arrangement of the device 200 within the house, the user moves the device icon 501 to an appropriate position on the floor plan 500. Thus, for the device icon 501 of which the arrangement on the floor plan 500 is not specified by the user, a value that indicates an unset arrangement such as (0, 0, 0) is set as the value of the arrangement 4704. The display control section 103 displays the device icon 501 with the arrangement 4704 unset at a position on the display 101 determined in advance.
The device list 4700 managed by the server may be omitted from the home information 2700. In this case, the home controller 100 may directly acquire from the device 200 information corresponding to the device type 4702, the model number 4703, and the capability information 4705 provided in the device list 4700 managed by the server.
The device list 3100 includes the device ID 3101, the device type 3102, a model number 3103, the arrangement 3104, capability information 3105, a control command transmission destination 3106, and an IP address 3107. The device ID 3101 to the control command transmission destination 3106 are the same in content as those with the same name in
In the device list 3100, the content of the device type 3102, the model number 3103, the arrangement 3104, the capability information 3105, the control command transmission destination 3106 can be acquired by the device management section 105 by transmitting the device list 4700 from the server 300. The IP address 3107 is acquired from the device 200 by the device management section 105. It should be noted, however, that the device management section 105 may give priority to the content of the device type 3102, the model number 3103, the capability information 3105, and the control command transmission destination 3106 that can be directly acquired from the device 200 in the case where such content is available.
The control command transmission destination 3106 may be determined in advance by the home controller system, may be automatically decided on the basis of the state of the network to which the home controller 100 is connected, or may be set by the user, rather than being acquired from the server 300 or the device 200.
Next, the flow of control performed on the device 200 by the home controller 100 will be described using the drawings.
First, the device management section 105 of the home controller 100 transmits a home information request to the server 300 (S3201). Here, the home information request includes at least a home controller ID that indicates a user or a home that utilizes the home controller 100. The home information management section 301 of the server 300 which receives the home information request searches the storage section 304 for the home information 2700 corresponding to the home controller ID (S3202), and transmits the home information 2700 to the home controller 100 (S3203). The device management section 105 of the home controller 100 stores the home information 2700 received from the server 300 in the storage section 104, and the display control section 103 generates a basic screen on the basis of the home information 2700, and displays the basic screen on the display 101 (S3204).
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to detect the device 200 on the network after the home controller 100 is connected to the network will be described using
In
When the home controller 100 is connected to the network when the home controller 100 is initially utilized or turned on (S3301), the device management section 105 of the home controller 100 broadcasts a device search request to all the devices 200 on the network (S3302). The device A 200 which receives the device search request returns a device search response to the home controller 100 (S3303). The home controller 100 which receives the device search response acquires device information from the device A 200 (S3304), and updates the display screen (S3305).
Similarly, the device B 200 which receives the device search request returns a device search response to the home controller 100 (S3306). The home controller 100 which receives the device search response acquires device information from the device B 200 (S3307), and updates the display screen (S3308). Here, the device information is information that represents the device type, the model number, the capability information, and so forth of the device 200. The device management section 105 of the home controller 100 generates the device list 3100 (see
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to detect the device 200 on the network when the device 200 is connected to the network will be described using
Here, the update of the display screen of the home controller 100 in
First, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the device icon 501 representing a certain device 200 is selected by the user on the basic screen (S3501). Next, the display control section 103 retracts all the device icons 501 out of the display region of the device control screen 502 (S3502). In this case, the device icons 501 are retracted as shown in
Next, the display control section 103 adjusts the display positions of the retracted device icons 501 (S3503). For example, the selected device icons 501 are adjusted so as to be displayed at particular positions as shown in
Next, the display control section 103 judges whether the device control screen 502 corresponding to the device icon 501 selected by the user is a dedicated screen or a floor plan (S3504).
Here, the device control screen 502 which is a dedicated screen refers to the device control screen 502 prepared separately from the floor plan and displayed as overlapped on the floor plan as shown in
For example, if the illumination device can be turned on and off or adjusted for the brightness by the user by directly tapping on the region of a room on the floor plan in which the illumination device is disposed, the illumination device can be operated with presence. In the case where the user attempts to operate a plurality of illumination devices installed in the living room at the same time, meanwhile, the entire screen is covered by the device control screens 502 dedicated to the illumination devices if the device control screens 502 dedicated to the individual illumination devices are displayed on the floor plan at the same time, which lowers the viewability.
Thus, in the following description, it is assumed that the device control screen 502 for the illumination device is a floor plan. Specifically, when the user selects the device icon 501 for the illumination device installed in a certain room in the basic screen, all the device icons 501 are retracted out of the display region of the floor plan, and the floor plan becomes ready to receive an operation for the illumination device in the room. Then, when the user taps on the region of the room on the floor plan in which the selected illumination device is installed, one or more illumination devices within the room can be operated at the same time.
For example, when the user taps on the region of a room with the illumination devices in the room turned off, one or more illumination devices in the room are turned on at the same time. Next, when the user taps on the region, the one or more illumination devices are turned off at the same time.
In the case where the device control screen 502 is a floor plan in S3504, and if the region of the room in which the device icon 501 is disposed is equal to or less than a certain size (YES in S3506), the display control section 103 causes the device control screen 502 dedicated to the device in which the region of the room is displayed as enlarged to be displayed as overlapped on the floor plan (S3507). Here, for example, a floor plan formed by clipping the floor plan of the relevant room from the floor plan for the entire floor and enlarging the clipped floor plan is displayed as overlapped on the floor plan for the entire floor.
If the region of the room in which the device icon 501 is disposed is not equal to or less than the certain size (NO in S3506), on the other hand, the display control section 103 displays the floor plan as the device control screen 502 (S3508).
Information as to whether a dedicated screen or a floor plan is adopted as the device control screen 502 for each device 200 is stored in advance in the storage section 104. Thus, the display control section 103 may reference the information to determine whether the device control screen 502 is a dedicated screen or a floor plan.
In addition, the display control section 103 may calculate the size of the relevant room by specifying the vertexes of the relevant room from the room information 2900, specifying the coordinates of the specified vertexes from the vertex information 2800, and calculating the area of a region surrounded by the specified coordinates of the vertexes. Then, the result of determination in S3506 may be NO if the size of the room is not equal to or less than the certain size determined in advance, and the result of determination in S3506 may be YES if the size of the room is equal to or less than the certain size.
In the case where the device control screen 502 is a dedicated screen in S3504, on the other hand, the display control section 103 displays the dedicated screen as overlapped on the floor plan (S3505).
In S3509, the touch panel control section 102 senses that a contacting object (here, a finger of the user) starts contacting the display 101.
Next, the touch panel control section 102 determines whether or not the contact target is the device icon 501 (S3510).
If it is determined that the device icon 501 is contacted (YES in S3510), the touch panel control section 102 determines whether or not the contacting object contacts the same device icon 501 as the device icon 501 selected in S3501 (S3511). In the case where it is determined that the contacting object contacts the same device icon 501 as the device icon 501 selected in S3501 (YES in S3511), the display control section 103 hides the device control screen 502 being displayed to display the basic screen (S3514).
In the case where the touch panel control section 102 determines that the device icon 501 is not contacted (NO in S3510), the touch panel control section 102 further determines whether or not the contact target is the device control screen 502 (S3512). In the case where it is determined that the contact target is not the device control screen 502 (NO in S3512), the display control section 103 hides the device control screen 502 being displayed, and the basic screen is displayed (S3514).
If the touch panel control section 102 determines that the contacting object contacts a button or the like within the device control screen 502 (YES in S3512), on the other hand, the process is advanced to S3513, where a control flow that is specific to the device is executed (S3513).
Next, the control flow that is specific to the device executed in S3513 will be described in detail using
Next, the control command transmission flow executed in S3603 will be described in detail using
If the transmission destination of a control command is “DEVICE” in S3702, the device control section 106 transmits a control command to the relevant device 200 (S3703). If the transmission destination of a control command is “SERVER” in S3702, on the other hand, the device control section 106 transmits a control command to the server 300 (S3704).
For example, in the device list 3100, the control command transmission destination 3106 of the air conditioner is “DEVICE”, and therefore the device control section 106 transmits a control command to the air conditioner. On the other hand, in the device list 3100, the control command transmission destination 3106 of the refrigerator is “SERVER”, and therefore the device control section 106 transmits a control command to the server 300.
Meanwhile, in the case where it is judged in S3701 that the home controller 100 is not connected to the home network (NO in S3701), the process in S3704 is performed.
In S3705, the device control section 106 receives the control result from the device 200. Next, in the case where transmission of a control command to all the devices 200 that are operated at the same time is completed (YES in S3706), the device control section 106 advances the process to S3707. In the case where transmission of a control command to all the devices 200 that are operated at the same time is not completed (NO in S3706), on the other hand, the device control section 106 returns the process to S3702, and repeats the processes in and after S3702.
For example, in the case where two illumination devices are installed in the same room and the two illumination devices are set in advance to be operated at the same time, the device control section 106 transmits a control command to each of the two illumination devices. The result of determination in S3706 is NO for devices 200 that are not operated at the same time as other devices 200.
Next, the display control section 103 updates the screen displayed on the display 101 (S3707). For example, if the set temperature of the air conditioner is changed, the device control screen 502 is updated such that the temperature display is flashed on and off, for example, until the set temperature of the air conditioner is changed by a control command and the temperature display stops flashing when the set temperature of the air conditioner is changed by a control command. In the example of the illumination device, the screen is updated such that the region on the floor plan of a room in which the illumination device is installed becomes brighter than other regions in the case where the illumination device is turned on.
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to directly control the device 200 will be described using
The device 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S3803), and transmits the control result to the home controller 100 (S3804). The display control section 103 of the home controller 100 which receives the control result updates the display screen in accordance with the control result (S3805).
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to control the device 200 by way of the server 300 will be described using
The server 300 which receives the control command transmits the relevant control command to the device 200 (S3903). The device 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S3904), and transmits the control result to the server 300 (S3905). The server 300 which receives the control result transmits the control result to the home controller 100 (S3906). The display control section 103 of the home controller 100 which receives the control result updates the display screen in accordance with the control result (S3907).
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to confirm the device state of the device 200 by way of the server 300 will be described using
Next, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100 senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4002). Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates a control command according to the user operation, and transmits the control command to the server 300 (S4003). Here, a control command for confirming the device state of the device 200 is generated.
The server 300 which receives the control command searches for the current device state of the relevant device 200 (S4004), and transmits the device state of the relevant device 200 to the home controller 100 as the control result (S4005). The display control section 103 of the home controller 100 which receives the control result updates the display screen in accordance with the control result (S4006). For example, if the device control screen 502 for the device 200 is displayed on the display 101, the content of the device control screen 502 for the device 200 is updated in accordance with the control result.
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to directly control the devices 200 in the case where the home controller 100 controls a plurality of devices 200 with one operation will be described using
First, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100 senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4101). Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates a control command according to the user operation, and transmits the control command to the device A 200 (S4102).
The device A 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S4103), and transmits the control result to the home controller 100 (S4104).
Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 transmits to the device B 200 a control command that is the same as the control command transmitted to the device A 200 (S4105). The device B 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S4106), and transmits the control result to the home controller 100 (S4107).
The display control section 103 of the home controller 100 which receives the control result updates the display screen in accordance with the control result (S4108). In this case, for example, if the device control screens 502 for the devices A 200 and B 200 are displayed on the display 101, the content of the device control screens 502 for the devices A 200 and B 200 is updated in accordance with the control result.
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to control the devices 200 by way of the server 300 in the case where the home controller 100 controls a plurality of devices 200 with one operation will be described using
First, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100 senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4201).
Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates a control command for the device A 200 according to the user operation, and transmits the control command to the server 300 (S4202).
The server 300 which receives the control command for the device A 200 transmits the control command to the device A 200 (S4203). The device A 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S4204), and transmits the control result to the server 300 (S4205). The server 300 which receives the control result transmits the control result to the home controller 100 (S4206).
Similarly, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates a control command for the device B 200 according to the user operation, and transmits the control command to the server 300 (S4207).
The server 300 which receives the control command transmits the control command to the device B 200 (S4208). The device B 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S4209), and transmits the control result to the server 300 (S4210). The server 300 which receives the control result transmits the control result to the home controller 100 (S4211).
Then, the display control section 103 of the home controller 100 updates the display screen in accordance with the control result (S4212).
Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to control the devices 200 by way of the server 300 in the case where the home controller 100 controls a plurality of devices 200 with one operation will be described using
First, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100 senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4301).
Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates a control command for the device A 200 and the device B 200 in accordance with the user operation, and transmits the control command to the server 300 (S4302).
The server 300 which receives the control command transmits the control command to the device A 200 (S4303). The device A 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S4304), and transmits the control result to the server 300 (S4305).
Similarly, the server 300 transmits the control command to the device B 200 (S4306). The device B 200 which receives the control command executes the control command (S4307), and transmits the control result to the server 300 (S4308). The server 300 which receives the control result for the device A 200 and the device B 200 transmits the control result to the home controller 100 (S4309).
Then, the display control section 103 of the home controller 100 updates the display screen in accordance with the control result (S4310).
Next, the flow of a process for a case where the device icon 501 is moved in the home controller 100 will be described using
When the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller A 100 senses movement of the device icon 501 (S4801), the display control section 103 updates the display screen (S4802). Here, the display control section 103 displays the device icon 501 moved in accordance with the amount of a drag performed on the device icon 501 by the user.
The device management section 105 of the home controller A 100 transmits to the server 300 a device list update notification including the coordinate on the floor plan 500 after the drag (S4803). Here, the device management section 105 of the home controller A 100 updates the content of the arrangement 3104 of the relevant device 200 in the device list 3100 managed by the device management section 105 itself with the coordinate after the drag.
The server 300 which receives the device list update notification updates the device list 4700 (S4804). In this case, the home information management section 301 of the server 300 updates the content of the arrangement 4704 of the relevant device 200 in the device list 4700 with the coordinate included in the device list update notification.
Subsequently, the server 300 transmits the device list update notification to the home controller B 100 (S4805). The home controller B 100 which receives the device list update notification updates the display screen (S4806). Here, the device management section 105 of the home controller B 100 updates the content of the arrangement 3104 of the relevant device 200 in the device list 3100 managed by the device management section 105 itself with the coordinate included in the device list update notification.
The device icon 501 is disposed at an appropriate position on the floor plan 500 through the process described above. Because the home controller B 100 is notified of the update of the arrangement position of the device icon 501 performed by the home controller A 100 by way of the server 300, the arrangement position of the device icon 501 after the update is shared among the home controllers A 100 and B 100 and the server 300. Therefore, it is possible to avoid trouble in which the arrangement position of the device icon 501 is different between the home controller A 100 and the home controller B 100.
Next, an example of a process for updating the device lists of the home controller 100 and the server 300 will be described using
Consequently, the server 300 is notified of variation in state of the device 200, which allows the server 300 to monitor variation in state of the device 200. The server 300 to which the device state is transmitted from the device 200 notifies the home controller 100 of variation in state of the device 200, which allows the home controller 100 to recognize the current state of the device 200. In the case where a new device 200 is connected to the home network, the server 300 and the home controller 100 can add the new device. Hence, it is possible to prevent occurrence of deviation between the actual state of the device 200 and the state of the device 200 recognized by the home controller 100.
Next, another example of the process for updating the device lists of the home controller 100 and the server 300 will be described using
The device management section 105 of the home controller 100 updates the device list 3100 in accordance with the content of the received device state (S5002). Here, in the case where the device list 3100 does not contain information on the device 200, the device management section 105 adds information on the device 200 as a new device. Then, the display control section 103 updates the display screen (S5003). Then, the device management section 105 of the home controller 100 transmits a device list update notification to the server 300 (S5004). The server 300 updates the device list 4700 in accordance with the received device list update notification (S5005). Here, in the case where the device list 4700 does not contain information on the device 200, the server 300 adds information on the device 200 as a new device.
Next, still another example of a process in which the home controller 100 and the server 300 update the device list will be described using
The device 200 transmits the device state to the in-home home controller 100 (S5101). The in-home home controller 100 updates the device list 3100 in accordance with the content of the received device state (S5102). Here, in the case where the device list 3100 does not contain information on the device 200, the device management section 105 adds information on the device 200 as a new device. Then, the display screen is updated (S5103). Then, the in-home home controller 100 transmits a device list update notification to the server 300 (S5104).
The server 300 updates the device list 4700 in accordance with the content of the received device list update notification (S5105). Here, in the case where the device list 4700 does not contain information on the device 200, the server 300 adds information on the device 200 as a new device. Then, the server 300 transmits a device list update notification to the out-home home controller 100 (S5106). The out-home home controller 100 updates the device list 3100 in accordance with the content of the received device list update notification (S5107). Here, in the case where the device list 3100 does not contain information on the device 200, the device management section 105 of the out-home home controller 100 adds information on the device 200 as a new device. Then, the display screen is updated (S5108).
According to the example, even in the case where one home controller 100 is located away from the home and the other home controller 100 is located in the home, it is possible to prevent occurrence of deviation between the states of the device 200 recognized by the two home controllers 100.
The sequences and the process flows described above are merely exemplary, and the order of the steps may be changed and some of the steps may be omitted as long as the intended process may be embodied. For example, a control command may be transmitted to the device A 200 and the device B 200 asynchronously.
In the foregoing description, a plan view that planarly represents the position and the shape of rooms forming each floor is adopted as the floor plan 500. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and a diagram that schematically shows how many rooms of what type are located on each floor may be adopted as the floor plan.
Floor plans in other patterns will be specifically described below.
In the floor plan 5200, the name and the number of the rooms forming each floor are indicated, but the relative size and the position in the floor of the rooms are not represented. In the present disclosure, such a diagram is treated as the floor plan 5200. That is, in the present disclosure, any diagram that represents at least what rooms are provided on each floor are treated as the floor plan.
For example, it is seen that a floor plan 5201 for the first floor includes rooms such as a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a bath, a lavatory, a toilet, a staircase, and a hallway. Meanwhile, it is seen that a floor plan 5202 for the second floor includes rooms such as a main bedroom, a bedroom 1, a bedroom 2, a child's room, and a staircase.
The user can drag and move a desired room on the floor plan 5200 to change the position of the room on the floor plan 5200. In the case where a large number of devices 200 are disposed within a room and all the device icons 501 cannot be displayed within the room on the floor plan 5200 using a default room size, the display control section 103 may increase the size of the room such that all the device icons 501 can be accommodated within the room.
For example, the device icons 501 for the television set and the illumination device are displayed in the living room, and therefore it is seen that the television set and the illumination device are installed in the living room.
The device list display change button 503 is a button for switching the screen display from the basic screen to the device list display screen discussed earlier (see
In displaying the device control screen 502, the display control section 103 disposes the device icons 501 displayed on the floor plan 5200 outside the display region of the device control screen 502. In the example of
In disposing the device icons 501 in one vertical line on the left side of the floor plan 5200, the display control section 103 may group the device icons 501 under particular conditions. For example, the device icons 501 may be grouped in accordance with the room, may be grouped in accordance with the type of the device 200, or may be grouped in accordance with the category based on the type of the device 200.
In the example of
In the case where all the device icons 501 cannot be displayed on the left side of the floor plan 5200, the display control section 103 may scroll the device icons 501 upward or downward in accordance with a swipe operation performed upward or downward on the device icons 501 disposed in one line on the left side to cause the device icons 501, which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display 101.
In disposing the device icons 501 in one vertical line on the left side of the floor plan 5200, the display control section 103 may display the device icon 501 selected by the user in a display mode that is different from that for the unselected device icons 501. For example, the selected device icon 501 may be displayed in a color that is different from that of the unselected device icons 501, may be displayed more brightly than the unselected device icons 501, may be displayed more densely than the unselected device icons 501, or may be flashed on and off at a constant cycle.
The display control section 103 may scroll an array of the device icons 501 such that the device icon 501 selected by the user is positioned at a conspicuous position (for example, the top, middle, or bottom position) in the line of icons.
In displaying the device control screen 502, the display control section 103 may dispose all the device icons 501 on the outer periphery of an ellipse as shown in
Next, transition between the display state of the basic screen and the display state of the device control screen 502 will be described using
In the basic screen shown in the left diagram of
On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of
In the left diagram of
In the floor plan 5601 for the first floor, the living room is the largest in terms of the room size, and is followed by the kitchen, the bath, and the staircase. Therefore, the sizes of the rooms are displayed in this order. Also in the floor plan 5602 for the second floor, the rooms are represented in accordance with the actual room size. In this case, information that indicates the actual room size may be registered in advance in room information 6800 to be discussed later, and the display control section 103 may decide the size of each room in accordance with the information.
In the case where the mode in which each room is represented with a size matching the actual room size on the floor plan 5600 is adopted, displaying all the rooms within the display 101 may result in small display of the rooms to make a user operation difficult. Thus, a room display button 5603 with a text “DISPLAY OTHER ROOMS” is provided in
When the user selects the room display button and the touch panel control section 102 senses the selection, the display control section 103 switches the screen display to the floor plan 5600 which displays the remaining rooms.
In the example of
Although the floor plan is provided for each floor in the example of
In the case where the floor plan 5601 for the first floor and the floor plan 5602 for the second floor can be displayed on the display 101 at the same time, the display control section 103 may display the floor plan 5601 for the first floor and the floor plan 5602 for the second floor on the display 101 at the same time. In this case, the room display button 5603 is omitted from the floor plan 5600.
In the case where the staircase is tapped on the floor plan 5600, the display control section 103 may switch between the floor plan 5601 for the first floor and the floor plan 5602 for the second floor.
Also in the floor plan 5900, the size of each room may be varied in accordance with the actual room size. In the floor plan 5900, in addition, in the case where all the rooms cannot be displayed within the display region of the display 101, the floor plan 5900 may be scrolled in the horizontal direction so that a desired room can be displayed on the display 101.
For example, in the case where there are further rooms on the second floor, when the touch panel control section 102 senses that the user performs a swipe operation from the left to the right, the display control section 103 may scroll the rooms forming the second floor, or the rooms forming the first floor to the third floor, from the left to the right in accordance with the amount of the swipe operation.
In disposing the device icons 501 in one vertical line on the lower side of the floor plan 5900, the display control section 103 may group the device icons 501 under particular conditions. For example, the device icons 501 may be grouped in accordance with the room, may be grouped in accordance with the type of the device 200, or may be grouped in accordance with the category based on the type of the device 200.
In the example of
In the case where all the device icons 501 cannot be disposed on the lower side of the floor plan 500, the display control section 103 may scroll the device icons 501 leftward or rightward in accordance with a swipe operation performed leftward or rightward on the device icons 501 disposed in one horizontal line on the lower side to cause the device icons 501, which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display 101.
In disposing the device icons 501 in one horizontal line on the lower side of the floor plan 5900, the display control section 103 may display the device icon 501 selected by the user in a display mode that is different from that for the unselected device icons 501. For example, the selected device icon 501 may be displayed in a color that is different from that of the unselected device icons 501, may be displayed more brightly than the unselected device icons 501, may be displayed more densely than the unselected device icons 501, or may be flashed on and off at a constant cycle.
The display control section 103 may scroll an array of the device icons 501 such that the device icon 501 selected by the user is positioned at a conspicuous position (for example, the leftmost, middle, or rightmost position) in the line of icons.
In displaying the device control screen 502, the display control section 103 may dispose all the device icons 501 on the outer periphery of an ellipse as shown in
In the floor plan 5900, the rooms on all the floors are displayed on the display 101 at the same time, which may result in small display of the rooms to make a user operation difficult. Thus, the display control section 103 may display the floor plan 5900 as enlarged in accordance with the user operation. Specifically, when the user performs an operation of pinching out on a certain room in the floor plan 5900 and the touch panel control section 102 senses the operation, the display control section 103 may display the room on the display 101 as enlarged at an enlargement scale matching the amount of the pinch out.
In the floor plan 5900 not displayed as enlarged shown in
In this case, the display control section 103 may display one or a plurality of (for example, two) device icons 501 frequently used by the user on the floor plan 5900. Alternatively, the display control section 103 may not display the device icons 501 on the floor plan 5900 not displayed as enlarged. This prevents the viewability of the floor plan 5900 from being lowered because of an increased number of the device icons 501 displayed on the floor plan 5900 not displayed as enlarged.
In the case where a certain room is displayed as enlarged, it is highly likely that the user operates the device 200 disposed within the room. In the case where a certain room is displayed as enlarged, in addition, the device icons 501 for devices in the other rooms are not displayed on the display 101. Therefore, if the device icons 501 for devices disposed in the other rooms are displayed on the left side of the plan view when the user selects a certain device icon 501, the user may be given a sense of wrongness.
Thus, in the case where a certain room is displayed as enlarged, the display control section 103 causes only the device icons 501 for the devices 200 disposed in the room to be displayed in one vertical line on the left side of the plan view. In the example of
It is assumed that the user pinches out on the living room in the basic screen shown in the upper left diagram of
When the device icon 501 for the air conditioner, for example, is selected in the basic screen shown in the lower left diagram of
The floor plan 5200 is image data obtained by representing the floor plan 5200 shown in
For example, the room with a room ID 6801 of A has a display position 6804 of “FIRST CELL ON FIRST FLOOR”. Therefore, as shown in
In the example of
Next, the device list 3100 for a case where the plan view of a certain room is displayed in the case where a pinch-out operation is performed on the room on the basic screen of the floor plan 5900 as shown in
Meanwhile, not only the room type 6802 but also the coordinate in the room is registered in the arrangement 3104 of the device list 3100 shown in
In the present disclosure, the server 300 is not an essential constituent element, and various types of information managed by the server 300 (such as the home information 2700 and the state of the devices 200) may be managed by the home controller 100. This allows the present disclosure described above to be embodied without the server 300. In this case, it is not necessary for the home controller 100 to manage information on the entire house, and it is only necessary to manage information related to the devices 200 controlled by the home controller 100 and the house in which the devices 200 are disposed.
According to the present disclosure, when a device icon that represents a target device displayed on a floor plan is selected, a control screen for the target device is displayed on the floor plan. Therefore, such a configuration is useful in the case where a portable information terminal is used as a remote controller for a plurality of target devices.
This application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/JP2013/002196, filed Mar. 29, 2013, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application No. 61/766,846, filed Feb. 20, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6756998 | Bilger | Jun 2004 | B1 |
7730223 | Bavor et al. | Jun 2010 | B1 |
20030038730 | Imafuku et al. | Feb 2003 | A1 |
20050131991 | Ogawa et al. | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20070080940 | Aoki et al. | Apr 2007 | A1 |
20080316730 | Diederiks et al. | Dec 2008 | A1 |
20090315485 | Verfuerth et al. | Dec 2009 | A1 |
20110126144 | Sakaguchi | May 2011 | A1 |
20120310386 | To | Dec 2012 | A1 |
20130179826 | Wang | Jul 2013 | A1 |
20140058569 | Kuroiwa | Feb 2014 | A1 |
20140089859 | Ishizaka | Mar 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
0820000 | Jan 1998 | EP |
01-227597 | Sep 1989 | JP |
05-083764 | Apr 1993 | JP |
2000-138979 | May 2000 | JP |
2001-092762 | Apr 2001 | JP |
2002-318843 | Oct 2002 | JP |
2003-052093 | Feb 2003 | JP |
2004-021522 | Jan 2004 | JP |
2005-198252 | Jul 2005 | JP |
2007-104567 | Apr 2007 | JP |
2009-213107 | Sep 2009 | JP |
5128489 | Nov 2012 | JP |
2012153391 | Nov 2012 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Supplemenary European Search Report, dated Oct. 7, 2014. |
International Search Report in PCT/JP2013/002196, dated Jul. 2, 2013. |
Office Action issued in Japan Counterpart Patent Appl. No. 2014-161189 , dated Jun. 2, 2015, along with an English translation thereof. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20140236326 A1 | Aug 2014 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61766846 | Feb 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | PCT/JP2013/002196 | Mar 2013 | US |
Child | 14165733 | US |