This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-204929 filed on Oct. 3, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a remote operation supporting program and a remote operation supporting method to support a remote operation apparatus in manipulating an information processing apparatus and relates to an information processing apparatus where the remote operation supporting program is installed.
There is widely known an information processing apparatus that enables installation of a plurality of programs and is capable of executing a program selected by a user out of the installed programs.
An example of the information processing apparatus is available as a smartphone. As disclosed in patent literature 1, there is also known a remote operation apparatus that remotely manipulates an information processing apparatus. In patent literature 1, the remote operation apparatus is described as a remote electronic apparatus. A portable electronic apparatus is disclosed as the information processing apparatus.
According to patent literature 1, the remote electronic apparatus transmits data to the portable electronic apparatus. The portable electronic apparatus specifies an application in the portable electronic apparatus to process the data.
As disclosed in patent literature 1, it is necessary to specify an application (i.e., a program) stored in the information processing apparatus to process data from the remote operation apparatus. The specified program needs to include a function capable of processing data from the remote operation apparatus.
Many programs are usually installed in the information processing apparatus such as a smartphone. Many programs may include a program (hereinafter referred to as an incompatible program) that does not include a function to process data from the remote operation apparatus.
Undoubtedly, the information processing apparatus may be installed with a plurality of programs (hereinafter referred to as compatible programs) that includes a function to process data from the remote operation apparatus.
Therefore, it is necessary to select one compatible program to be manipulated by the remote operation apparatus out of a plurality of programs installed in the information processing apparatus in order to manipulate the information processing apparatus via the remote operation apparatus.
Many programs may be installed and include compatible programs and incompatible programs mixed with each other. Selecting one compatible program requires recognizing which of many programs are compatible.
The information processing apparatus such as a smartphone normally displays a list of executable programs using icons. Therefore, a user feels inconvenient to start a compatible program because the user needs to determine which of many icons correspond to a compatible program or an incompatible program. The user may spend a long time to look fixedly at the screen until finding an intended icon corresponding to the compatible program.
Therefore, there is a need to quickly find an intended icon corresponding to the compatible program. In a vehicle, a driver is supposed to manipulate the information processing apparatus using the remote operation apparatus. It is necessary to minimize the time for the driver to look fixedly at the information processing apparatus.
Patent Literature 1: JP-2013-535123 T
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a remote operation supporting program, a remote operation supporting method, and an information processing apparatus that support reducing inconvenient manipulation until finding an intended compatible program corresponding to a remote operation apparatus and shortening the time to look fixedly at the information processing apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a remote operation supporting program installed in an information processing apparatus into which a plurality of compatible programs corresponding to a remote operation apparatus and a plurality of incompatible programs not corresponding to the remote operation apparatus are installed, the information processing apparatus executing one program selected by user operation among installed compatible programs and installed incompatible programs, the remote operation supporting program includes: controlling the information processing apparatus to function as a detection unit that detects the compatible programs from the compatible programs and the incompatible programs installed in the information processing apparatus; and controlling the information processing apparatus to function as a first display control unit that displays a list of the compatible programs detected by the detection unit on a display unit of the information processing apparatus.
According to the remote operation supporting program, the first display control unit allows the display unit to display a list of compatible programs. A user can search the list for a compatible program to be started and eliminate the need to determine whether the program contained in the list is a compatible program. Therefore, the user can reduce inconvenient manipulation until finding an intended compatible application and shorten the time to look fixedly at the display unit of the information processing apparatus.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a remote operation supporting method for supporting a selection operation of selecting one compatible program in an information processing apparatus into which a plurality of compatible programs corresponding to a remote operation apparatus and a plurality of incompatible programs not corresponding to the remote operation apparatus are installed, the information processing apparatus executing one program selected by user operation among installed compatible programs and installed incompatible programs installed, the remote operation supporting method includes: detecting the compatible programs from the compatible programs and the incompatible programs installed in the information processing apparatus; and displaying a list of detected compatible programs on a display unit of the information processing apparatus.
According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, in an information processing apparatus, the remote operation supporting program according to the first aspect is installed.
According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus into which a plurality of compatible programs corresponding to a remote operation apparatus and a plurality of incompatible programs not corresponding to the remote operation apparatus are installed, the information processing apparatus executing one program selected by user operation among installed compatible programs and installed incompatible programs installed, the information processing apparatus includes: a detection unit that detects the compatible programs from installed compatible programs and installed incompatible programs; a display unit; and a first display control unit that displays a list of the compatible programs detected by the detection unit on the display unit.
The remote operation supporting method and the information processing apparatus described above can also provide the same effect as the remote operation supporting program.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(Overall Configuration)
A remote operation system 1 illustrated in
The smartphone 100 includes a display unit 110. The display unit 110 displays various icons 120 representing programs. According to the embodiment, the program is hereinafter referred to as an application. The other configurations of the smartphone 100 will be described later with reference to
The remote operation device 20 corresponds to a remote operation apparatus. The remote operation device 20 according to the embodiment includes a cross-hair button 21, a scroll wheel 22, a menu button 23, a back button 24, and a connection button 25.
The cross-hair button 21 can enter four directions such as top, bottom, right, and left. The scroll wheel 22 rotates around a shaft and moves in the thickness direction of the remote operation device 20. The remote operation device 20 transmits a scroll signal to a wirelessly connected instrument when the scroll wheel 22 rotates around the shaft in response to user manipulation. The scroll wheel 22 moves in the thickness direction of the remote operation device 20 to perform a selection operation.
Manipulating the menu button 23 allows the display unit 110 of the smartphone 100 to display a list of applications compatible with the remote operation device 20 or a menu screen. Manipulating the back button 24 returns an image displayed on the display unit 110 of the smartphone 100 to an image that was displayed before the currently displayed image. Pressing the connection button 25 makes wireless connection between the remote operation device 20 and an instrument to be operated remotely. The remote operation device 20 includes a communication unit inside. Pressing the connection button 25 uses the communication unit to establish wireless connection with an instrument to be connected based on the near field wireless communication. The wireless connection uses a system in compliance with the wireless standard such as Bluetooth Low Energy, for example. Bluetooth is a registered trademark.
For example, the in-vehicle unit 30 is available as an in-vehicle audio instrument and is connected to the speaker 40. The in-vehicle unit 30 communicates with the smartphone 100 and outputs audio from the speaker 40 based on audio data transmitted from the smartphone 100.
The server 60 stores various types of information (hereinafter referred to as compatible application information) about a compatible application (i.e., a compatible program) that is installed in the smartphone 100 and can be operated from the remote operation device 20. The compatible application information will be described in detail later.
(Configuration of the Smartphone 100)
As illustrated in
The display unit 110 displays an icon 120 corresponding to each application installed in the smartphone 100. The icon 120 represents either or both text and a graphic other than text.
The wide area communication unit 130 wirelessly connects with the public communication network 50 for communication. The near field communication unit 132 performs wireless communication based on the same communication system as the remote operation device 20.
The storage unit 140 includes a writable, nonvolatile storage medium such as flash memory. The storage unit 140 stores an application installed in the smartphone 100. The application is classified into a compatible application compatible with the remote operation device 20 and an incompatible application the remote operation device 20 cannot operate. The storage unit 140 stores a launcher application 141 corresponding to a remote operation supporting program.
The speaker 150 outputs audio that reads out the name of a compatible application. The operation unit 160 includes a touch panel overlaid on the surface of the display unit 110. The operation unit 160 may include a touch switch or a mechanical switch placed around the display unit 110.
The control unit 170 is available as a computer including a CPU, ROM, and RAM. The CPU performs the launcher application 141 stored in the storage unit 140 while using a temporary storage function of the RAM. The control unit 170 thereby functions as a detection unit 171, a first display control unit 172, a second display control unit 173, a compatibility identification information acquisition unit 174, a name acquisition unit 175, a display information acquisition unit 176, a URL acquisition unit 177, and a read-aloud processing unit 178. One or more ICs as hardware may configure all or part of the functions implemented by the control unit 170.
Processes on the detection unit 171, the first display control unit 172, the second display control unit 173, the compatibility identification information acquisition unit 174, the name acquisition unit 175, the display information acquisition unit 176, the URL acquisition unit 177, and the read-aloud processing unit 178 will be described with reference to
The icons 120A through 120H and 120L in
(Processes of Control Unit 170)
When activated, the launcher application 141 periodically performs a process in
At S2, the process determines whether a confirmation moment is reached to determine whether a compatible application is installed in the smartphone 100. The confirmation moment occurs each time the launcher application 141 starts and a subsequent specified interval elapses. The specified interval can be defined appropriately so as to cover several days, for example.
The process in
At S4, the process inquires of an operating system of the smartphone 100 to acquire application IDs and application versions of all applications installed in the smartphone 100.
At S6, the process compares the application ID and the application version acquired at S4 with the application ID and the application version previously acquired at S4. The application ID and the application version previously acquired at S4 are stored in the storage unit 140 when the process performs S8 to follow during previous execution of the process in
At S8, the process allows the storage unit 140 to store the application ID and the application version acquired at S4.
At S10, the process determines whether the comparison result at S6 indicates a difference. The process in
At S12, the process uses the wide area communication unit 130 to transmit a request signal requesting the compatible application information to the server 60. The request signal also includes a model of the smartphone 100, a type and a version of the operating system, and a model and a version of the remote operation device 20. Whether the remote operation device 20 can operate a compatible application may depend on a difference among these items of information.
The server 60 stores the compatible application information about a plurality of compatible applications. The compatible application information provides various types of information about a compatible application.
As conceptually illustrated in
Of these, the application ID, the compatible remote operation device 20, the version, the model of the smartphone 100, and the version correspond to compatibility identification information acquired by the compatibility identification information acquisition unit 174. The icon and the name for display correspond to program specification information acquired by the display information acquisition unit 176. The name acquisition unit 175 acquires the name for reading aloud. The URL acquisition unit 177 acquires the URL for installation.
The server 60 acquires the request signal from the smartphone 100 and then determines a compatible application available for a combination of the smartphone 100 to have transmitted the request signal and the remote operation device 20 connected to the smartphone 100. The server 60 transmits the compatible application information about the determined compatible application to the smartphone 100 that transmitted the request signal.
At S14 in
At S16, the process determines whether the application installed in the smartphone 100 is compatible or incompatible, based on the compatible application information received at S14.
The process in
A process in
At S20, the process allows the display unit 110 to display a list of all compatible applications that are already installed in the smartphone 100. The list is hereinafter referred to as a list of installed compatible applications. Performing the process in
The list of installed compatible applications in
At S22, the process determines whether a scroll signal is input from the remote operation device 20. The remote operation device 20 transmits the scroll signal when the scroll wheel 22 of the remote operation device 20 is rotated. The remote operation device 20 may transmit the scroll signal when the cross-hair button 21 is manipulated upward or downward.
The process proceeds to S24 if the determination at S22 results in YES. At S24, the process scrolls the list of installed compatible applications displayed on the display unit 110 in the direction and by the amount determined by the scroll signal. The process proceeds to S26 after performing S24 or if the determination at S22 results in NO.
At S26, the process determines whether the time to continue selecting the selected icon 120 reaches a read-aloud time. According to the embodiment, as illustrated in
At S28, the process allows the predetermined one of or both the speaker 150 of the smartphone 100 and the speaker 40 mounted on the vehicle to output the audio resulting from reading aloud the name of the compatible application represented by the selected icon 120.
The audio resulting from reading aloud the name of the compatible application can be generated by using the name for reading aloud included in the compatible application information stored in the storage unit 140 at S14 and a publicly known speech production application that can generate the audio from the name.
The process proceeds to S30 after performing S28 or if the determination at S26 results in NO. At S30, the process determines whether a screen transition signal is input from the remote operation device 20. Specifically, the screen transition signal corresponds to a selection signal generated by manipulating the scroll wheel 22 in the thickness direction, a back signal generated by pressing the back button 24, or a menu display signal generated by pressing the menu button 23.
The process proceeds to S32 if the determination at S30 results in YES. At S32, the process performs a process corresponding to the input signal. The process then returns to S22. The process returns to S22 without proceeding to S32 if the determination at S30 results in NO.
As illustrated in
The control unit 170 performs a process illustrated in
At S40, the process allows the display unit 110 to display a list of all compatible applications. The list of all compatible applications indicates all compatible applications contained in the compatible application information acquired from the server 60 at S14.
However, unlike the list of installed compatible applications, the list of all compatible applications contains a compatible application installed in the smartphone 100 and a compatible application not installed in the smartphone 100. For this reason, an installation completion mark 129 is attached to the installed compatible application to identify that the compatible application is installed in the smartphone 100. The name 122 of the installed compatible application is displayed in a color lighter than a color used for the name 122 of an uninstalled compatible application.
S42 through S50 equal S22 through S30 in
The selected compatible application may be not installed. In this case, the process determines a URL of a site where the compatible application can be downloaded. The process determines the URL from the compatible application information acquired from the server 60. The process allows the display unit 110 to display a screen for the site corresponding to the determined URL.
According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the launcher application 141 is installed in the smartphone 100. When the launcher application 141 starts, the detection unit 171 detects a compatible application corresponding to the remote operation device 20 from applications installed in the smartphone 100 (
The list of installed compatible applications can be used to search for a compatible application intended to start and eliminate the need to determine whether the application indicated by the icon 120 and the name 122 is compatible. Therefore, the embodiment can reduce inconvenient manipulation until finding an intended compatible application and shorten the time to look fixedly at the display unit 110 of the smartphone 100.
The embodiment uses the compatible application information received from the server 60 to detect a compatible application from applications installed in the smartphone 100 (S16). The embodiment can accurately detect a compatible application from installed applications by providing a quick response to the compatible application that is likely to be updated as needed.
The specified speaker 40 or 150 outputs audio resulting from reading aloud the name of the compatible application represented by the icon 120 when the time to continue selecting the same icon 120 in the list of installed compatible applications reaches the read-aloud time (S28). A user can recognize which compatible application is selected without viewing the display unit 110. This can also shorten the time to look fixedly at the display unit 110.
The audio resulting from reading aloud the name of the compatible application is generated based on the name for reading aloud contained in the compatible application information acquired from the server 60. Therefore, the speaker 40 or 150 can output the audio resulting from reading aloud the name of the compatible application even if the operating system of the smartphone 100 does not provide the launcher application 141 with compatible application names.
The compatible application information received from the server 60 contains the icon 120 and the name 122 of a compatible application displayed in the list of installed compatible applications (S14). Therefore, the list of installed compatible applications can be created even if the operating system of the smartphone 100 does not provide the launcher application 141 with the icon 120 and the name 122 of the compatible application.
The compatible application information is acquired from the server 60 as needed. The embodiment can quickly respond to a case where the icon 120 of the compatible application is updated.
The embodiment acquires all items of compatible application information corresponding to the smartphone 100 and the remote operation device 20 from the server 60 out of the compatible application information stored in the server 60. The display unit 110 displays the list of all compatible applications based on the acquired information. The list of all compatible applications uses the installation completion mark 129 to identify whether each compatible application is installed in the smartphone 100. A user can quickly know a compatible application not installed in the smartphone 100 by using the displayed list of all compatible applications.
The display unit 110 displays the screen for a site where the compatible program represented by the icon 120 can be downloaded when the compatible program is not installed in the smartphone 100 and the icon 120 representing the compatible program is selected from the list of all compatible applications. The user can easily install a new compatible application.
While there have been described the embodiments of the present disclosure, the disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. Embodiments described below are also included in the technical scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, the disclosure may be embodied in various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
<First Modification>
For example, the display unit 110 may display a list of only compatible applications not installed in the smartphone 100 instead of or in addition to the list of all compatible applications according to the embodiment. In this case, the display unit 110 can display the list of installed compatible applications and the list of only compatible applications not installed in the smartphone 100 interchangeably with each other.
<Second Modification>
Difference information may be included in the request signal at S12 in
There may be the need to display the list of all compatible applications or the list of compatible applications not installed in the smartphone 100. In such a case, all items of the compatible application information about compatible applications available for a combination of the smartphone 100 and the remote operation device 20 may be acquired from the server 60.
<Third Modification>
The above-mentioned embodiment uses the smartphone 100 as the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus may be provided as a navigation system or a tablet computer. The navigation system may be fixed to a mobile object such as a vehicle or may be portable. The display unit and the communication unit may be separated from each other when the navigation system is fixed to the mobile object.
<Fourth Modification>
The remote operation device is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the remote operation device may be cylindrical and allow its top to rotate relatively to the bottom around a shaft. The remote operation device may be placed at a steering system. A general-purpose remote controller may be used as the remote operation device.
It is noted that a flowchart or the processing of the flowchart in the present application includes sections (also referred to as steps), each of which is represented, for instance, as S2. Further, each section can be divided into several sub-sections while several sections can be combined into a single section. Furthermore, each of thus configured sections can be also referred to as a device, module, or means.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and constructions. The present disclosure is intended to cover various modification and equivalent arrangements. In addition, while the various combinations and configurations, other combinations and configurations, including more, less or only a single element, are also within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-204929 | Oct 2014 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2015/004819 | 9/22/2015 | WO | 00 |