Remote control device, method and system

Information

  • Patent Application
  • 20070210932
  • Publication Number
    20070210932
  • Date Filed
    March 07, 2007
    17 years ago
  • Date Published
    September 13, 2007
    17 years ago
Abstract
According to a remote control device of the present invention, the operation situation according to the transmission of the remote control signal is judged based on a changing brightness of the image, and the information of the content according to the result of judgment is displayed. Thereby, it is possible to investigate a reaction of the apparatus to be controlled to the remote control signal, and visually indicate the reaction to the user.
Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS


FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a remote control system;



FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a remote control device;



FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of a remote operation process according to a first embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 4 is a view showing one example of a still image;



FIG. 5 is a view showing one example of the nth image when the power is actually turned on;



FIG. 6 is a view showing one example of displaying a GUI superimposed on the image;



FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of a remote operation process according to a second embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of a remote operation process according to a third embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a state where an error message superimposed on the still image is notified;



FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a state where an error code is displayed on the screen of a television apparatus;



FIG. 11 is a view illustrating how the error information is displayed;



FIG. 12 is a view illustrating how the apparatus information superimposed on the still image is displayed; and



FIG. 13 is a view illustrating how the charging status information superimposed on the still image is displayed.


Claims
  • 1. A remote control device comprising: an acquisition part that acquires continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a display part that superimposes and displays the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part and the information inherent to the apparatus;an instruction accepting part that accepts an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a control signal transmission part that transmits a remote control signal to the apparatus;a remote control part that controls the control signal transmission part to transmit a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part to the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part; andan operation situation judgment part that judges a presence or absence of the operation of the apparatus in accordance with the remote control signal depending on a changing brightness of the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part,wherein the display part displays information of a content in accordance with a judgment of the operation situation judgment part.
  • 2. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the remote control part transmits the remote control signal again if the operation situation judgment part judges that the apparatus is not operated in accordance with the remote control signal.
  • 3. The remote control device according to claim 2, wherein the remote control part transmits the remote control signal only by a certain number of times if the operation situation judgment part judges that the apparatus is not operated in accordance with the remote control signal.
  • 4. The remote control device according to claim 3, wherein the display part displays prescribed information after the remote control part transmits the remote control signal only by the certain number of times if the operation situation judgment part judges that the apparatus is not operated in accordance with the remote control signal.
  • 5. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 6. The remote control device according to claim 2, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 7. The remote control device according to claim 3, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 8. The remote control device according to claim 4, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 9. A remote control device comprising: an acquisition part that acquires continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a voice recognition part that recognizes an inherent voice uttered from the apparatus;a display part that superimposes and displays the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part and the information inherent to the apparatus;an instruction accepting part that accepts an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a control signal transmission part that transmits a remote control signal to the apparatus;a remote control part that controls the control signal transmission part to transmit a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part to the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part; andan operation situation judgment part that judges whether or not the apparatus is operated in accordance with the remote control signal depending on whether or not the voice recognition part recognizes the inherent voice;wherein the display part displays information of the content in accordance with a judgment of the operation situation judgment part.
  • 10. The remote control device according to claim 9, wherein the remote control part transmits the remote control signal again if the operation situation judgment part judges that the apparatus is not operated in accordance with the remote control signal.
  • 11. The remote control device according to claim 10, wherein the remote control part transmits the remote control signal only by a certain number of times if the operation situation judgment part judges that the apparatus is not operated in accordance with the remote control signal.
  • 12. The remote control device according to claim 11, wherein the display part displays prescribed information after the remote control part transmits the remote control signal only by the certain number of times if the operation situation judgment part judges that the apparatus is not operated in accordance with the remote control signal.
  • 13. The remote control device according to claim 9, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 14. The remote control device according to claim 10, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 15. The remote control device according to claim 11, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 16. The remote control device according to claim 12, wherein the operation situation judgment part judges whether or not the power of the apparatus is turned on in accordance with a remote control signal corresponding to the control content that the power of the apparatus is turned on, and the display part displays information concerning the controllable content after the power of the apparatus is turned on if the operation situation judgment part judges that the power of the apparatus is turned on.
  • 17. A remote control device comprising: an acquisition part that acquires continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a display part that superimposes and displays the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part and the information inherent to the apparatus;an instruction accepting part that accepts an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a control signal transmission part that transmits a remote control signal to the apparatus;a remote control part that controls the control signal transmission part to transmit a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part to the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part; andan error information recognition part that recognizes error information displayed by the apparatus from the image acquired by the acquisition part after transmitting the remote control signal;wherein the display part displays information on the error information recognized by the error information recognition part.
  • 18. A remote control device comprising: an acquisition part that acquires continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus or a status information of the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a display part that superimposes and displays the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part and the information inherent to the apparatus;an instruction accepting part that accepts an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a control signal transmission part that transmits a remote control signal to the apparatus; anda remote control part that controls the control signal transmission part to transmit a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part to the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part;wherein the display part displays the status information of the apparatus acquired by the acquisition part after transmitting the remote control signal.
  • 19. A remote control device comprising: an acquisition part that acquires continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus or a status information of the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a display part that superimposes and displays the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part and the information inherent to the apparatus; andan instruction accepting part that accepts an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from the user;wherein the display part displays the status information of the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part.
  • 20. The remote control device according to claim 19, wherein the status information of the apparatus includes information on the charging progress situation of the apparatus.
  • 21. A remote control method comprising: a step of acquiring continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a step of superposing and displaying the image acquired continuously and the information inherent to the apparatus;a step of accepting an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a step of transmitting a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the selected apparatus to the selected apparatus;a step of judging the presence or absence of the operation of the apparatus in accordance with the remote control signal depending on a changing brightness of the image acquired continuously; anda step of displaying information of the content in accordance with a judgment as to the presence or absence of the operation of the apparatus.
  • 22. A remote control method comprising: a step of acquiring continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a step of recognizing the inherent voice emitted from the apparatus;a step of superposing and displaying the image acquired continuously and the information inherent to the apparatus;a step of accepting an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a step of transmitting a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the selected apparatus to the selected apparatus;a step of judging whether or not the apparatus is operated in accordance with the remote control signal depending on whether or not the inherent voice is recognized; anda step of displaying information of the content in accordance with a judgment as to the presence or absence of the operation of the apparatus.
  • 23. A remote control method comprising: a step of acquiring continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a step of superposing and displaying the image acquired continuously and the information inherent to the apparatus;a step of accepting an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a step of transmitting a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the selected apparatus to the selected apparatus;a step of recognizing error information displayed by the apparatus from the image acquired after transmitting the remote control signal; anda step of displaying information corresponding to the recognized error information.
  • 24. A remote control method comprising: a step of acquiring continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus or a status information of the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a step of superposing and displaying the image acquired continuously and the information inherent to the apparatus;a step of accepting an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information or the status information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a step of transmitting a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the selected apparatus to the selected apparatus; anda step of displaying the status information of the apparatus acquired after transmitting the remote control signal.
  • 25. A remote control method comprising: a step of acquiring continuously an image of an apparatus to be remotely controlled as a subject and an information inherent to the apparatus and a status information of the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a step of superposing and displaying the image acquired continuously and the information inherent to the apparatus;a step of accepting an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information and the status information are acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user; anda step of displaying the status information of the selected apparatus.
  • 26. A remote control system comprising: an apparatus that optically transmits an information inherent to the apparatus or a status information of the apparatus;an acquisition part that acquires continuously an image of the apparatus as a subject and the information inherent to the apparatus or the status information of the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a display part that superimposes and displays the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part and information inherent to the apparatus;an instruction accepting part that accepts an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information or the status information is acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;a control signal transmission part that transmits a remote control signal to the apparatus; anda remote control part that controls the control signal transmission part to transmit a remote control signal corresponding to the control content of the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part to the apparatus selected by the instruction accepting part;wherein the apparatus performs the operation according to the selected control content in response to receiving the remote control signal, and transmits the status information of the apparatus; andthe display part displays the status information of the apparatus acquired by the acquisition part after transmitting the remote control signal.
  • 27. A remote control system comprising: an apparatus that optically transmits an information inherent to the apparatus and a status information of the apparatus;an acquisition part that acquires continuously an image of an apparatus as a subject and the information inherent to the apparatus and the status information of the apparatus optically emitted from the apparatus using an image pickup element;a display part that superimposes and displays the image acquired continuously by the acquisition part and information inherent to the apparatus; andan instruction accepting part that accepts an instruction of selecting a desired apparatus subject to remote control among the apparatuses from which the inherent information and the status information are acquired and selecting a desired control content for the selected apparatus from a user;wherein the display part displays the status information of the apparatus selected from the instruction accepting part.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2006-064733 Mar 2006 JP national