This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-000108, filed Jan. 5, 2015, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a wearable terminal device and a control method of a wearable terminal device.
Due to miniaturization of an information device in recent years, a palm-sized (palmtop type) terminal has appeared. Furthermore, a wearable terminal device such as a wristwatch type is widely known. Among these terminals, there is a terminal equipped with a so-called touch panel for performing an operation by touching a display screen.
A display screen (touch panel) of the wearable terminal device is small and it is not easy to operate with a finger or a touch pen. For example, a problem that a touched portion is hidden by the finger or the like or an intended point cannot be touched may be caused.
In contrast, for example, a method of displaying a pointer on a display image and moving the pointer by sliding the terminal itself is disclosed in PTL 1.
In an operation method that causes the GUI (pointer) to follow hardware (terminal), sensitivity of followability of the GUI varies depending on a user and thus, there is a case where it is not possible to operate at an intended speed in an intended direction. Here, the followability of the GUI represents a moving direction and a moving speed of the pointer or the like.
Also, it is difficult to visually recognize a position of the pointer in a small display screen. As such, the conventional operation method of PTL 1 and the like cannot be said to be intuitive and easy.
According to some aspects of the invention, it is possible to provide a wearable terminal device that can easily realize an intuitive operation and a control method of a wearable terminal device.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a wearable terminal device that includes a display that displays an object, a case provided with the display, a protrusion portion provided so as to protrude in a first direction from a side surface portion of the case in plan view from a normal direction of the display, a detector that detects at least one operation of a rotating operation using the first direction as a rotation axis, a pushing operation along the first direction, and a pulling operation along the first direction, and a slide movement operation in a direction intersecting with the first direction, of the protrusion portion, and a processor that executes a command specified based on a detection result by the detector among a plurality of commands.
In the aspect of the invention, a command is executed based on a detection result of which one operation of a plurality of operations by the protrusion portion that include at least the slide movement operation has been performed. With this, it is possible to execute various operations by the protrusion portion and various commands based on the various operations and as a result, it is possible to realize an intuitive and easy-to-understand operation of the wearable terminal device.
In the aspect of the invention, the side surface portion of the case includes an opening that is opened along a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and the protrusion portion is provided to penetrate through the opening, and in a case where an external force in the second direction is applied to the protrusion portion, the slide movement operation may be performed along the second direction.
With this, it is possible to realize the slide movement operation of the protrusion portion by providing an opening having an appropriate structure.
In the aspect of the invention, the detector may detect at least one of a sliding direction and a duration time of the slide movement operation of the protrusion portion, and the processor may specify a command to be executed from among a plurality of commands based on at least one of the detected sliding direction and the detected duration time.
With this, the sliding direction and the duration time of the slide movement operation may be detected and thus, it is possible to realize various slide movement operations and the like.
In the aspect of the invention, the detector may detect a rotation amount and a rotation direction of the rotating operation of the protrusion portion, and the processor may specify a command to be executed from among a plurality of commands based on the detected rotation amount and the detected rotation direction.
With this, the rotation amount and the rotation direction in the rotating operation may be detected and thus, it is possible to realize various rotating operations and the like.
In the aspect of the invention, the detector may detect a duration time of the pushing operation of the protrusion portion, and the processor may specify a command to be executed from among a plurality of commands based on the detected duration time.
With this, the duration time of the pushing operation may be detected and thus, it is possible to realize various pushing operations and the like.
In the aspect of the invention, the protrusion portion may be a crown.
With this, it is possible to use the crown widely used in a wristwatch as the protrusion portion.
In the aspect of the invention, in a case where a first object is displayed, the display may perform guide display for guiding which command is executed by an operation using the protrusion portion in the first object.
With this, a correspondence relationship between an operation on the protrusion portion and the command executed by the operation is displayed on the object and thus, it is possible to realize an easy-to-understand interface.
In the aspect of the invention, the display may display first to N-th guide objects corresponding to first to N-th operations (N is an integer of 2 or more) using the protrusion portion, and in a case where it is detected that an i-th operation (i is an integer satisfying 1≤i≤N) among the first to N-th operations is performed, the processor may execute an i-th command corresponding to the i-th operation.
With this, the guide object corresponding to each operation of the protrusion portion is displayed so as to make it possible to realize an interface that is easy for the user to understand, and the like.
In the aspect of the invention, the first to N-th guide objects may be objects that display the first to N-th commands corresponding to the first to N-th operations to be identifiable.
With this, the guide object corresponding to each operation of the protrusion portion is displayed so as to make it possible to guide the command executed by the operation in a display image.
In the aspect of the invention, the processor may execute a mode selection command for selecting any one of a plurality of modes of the wearable terminal device based on the detection result of the detector.
With this, it is possible to use the protrusion portion on an operation interface for performing mode selection and the like.
In the aspect of the invention, the processor may execute at least one command of a rotation command, a movement command, and a sizing command of an object displayed on the display based on the detection result of the detector.
With this, it is possible to execute various commands for the display object based on the operation of the protrusion portion.
In the aspect of the invention, the processor may execute a sound volume adjustment command based on the detection result of the detector.
With this, it is possible to perform sound volume adjustment based on the operation of the protrusion portion.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a wearable terminal device that includes a display that displays an object, a case provided with the display, a protrusion portion provided so as to protrude in a first direction from a side surface portion of the case in plan view from a normal direction of the display, a detector that detects at least a slide movement operation of the protrusion portion in a direction intersecting with the first direction, and a processor that executes a command specified based on the detection result of the detector, among a plurality of commands of the wearable terminal device, and in a case where a first object is displayed, the display performs guide display for guiding which command is executed by an operation using the protrusion portion in the first object.
In the other aspect of the invention, a protrusion portion capable of executing at least the slide movement operation is provided and a command corresponding to the operation of the protrusion portion is guided in the display image. With this, even in a case where the wearable terminal device may execute various commands and the like, it is possible to present the correspondence relationship between the operation of the protrusion portion and the command to the user, realize an intuitive and easy-to-understand operation, and the like.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a control method of a wearable terminal device that includes a display that displays an object, a case provided with the display, and a protrusion portion provided so as to protrude in a first direction from a side surface portion of the case in plan view from a normal direction of the display, the control method includes detecting at least one operation of a rotating operation using the first direction as a rotation axis, a pushing operation along the first direction, and a pulling operation along the first direction, and a slide movement operation in a direction intersecting with the first direction, of the protrusion portion, and executing a specified command among a plurality of commands of the wearable terminal device based on a detection result.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a control method of a wearable terminal device that includes a display that displays an object, a case provided with the display, and a protrusion portion provided so as to protrude in a first direction from a side surface portion of the case in plan view from a normal direction of the display, the control method includes detecting at least a slide movement operation of the protrusion portion in a direction intersecting with the first direction, executing a specified command among a plurality of commands of the wearable terminal device based on a detection result, and performing guide display for guiding which command is executed by an operation using the protrusion portion in the first object, in a case where the first object is displayed.
Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described. The present embodiment to be described below does not unreasonably limit contents of the present invention described in the claims. All of the configurations described in the embodiment are not necessarily indispensable constitutional requirements of the present invention.
1.1 Background
First, the method of the embodiment will be described. As described above, in recent years, miniaturization of an information device has progressed and a wearable type information device attached to a user's body has become widely known. It is assumed that such a wearable terminal device has various functions. For example, even in a wristwatch-type terminal device, there is a device that has not only general timepiece functions such as time, time watch, and alarm, but also functions of acquiring and displaying biometric information, activity amount information, and environmental information. Here, biological information is information on a user's biological activity such as a pulse rate and a blood oxygen saturation level, the activity amount information is information on a user's activity (behavior) such as the number of steps and calorie expenditure, and the environmental information is information on an environmental condition around the user such as the current position, altitude, and atmospheric pressure.
In a multifunctional wearable terminal device, it is necessary to carefully examine an operation interface in order to appropriately utilize the function. This is because, as the number of modes (functions) is large, there are many choices of which mode is to be selected (which function is to be used), and thus, an interface capable of quickly selecting a desired mode from the options is required.
Setting (processing) in each mode also varies. For example, in a case of a stop watch, settings such as start, stop, reset, and lap acquisition are performed, and in a case of a log data display mode, switch setting between log display of one day and log display such as a shorter period of several hours (or long-term log display), and the like are performed. As such, in order to realize an intuitive and easy-to-understand interface in a situation where many settings can be made in each mode, it is required to enable various operations of the wearable terminal device 100. For example, it is necessary to design such that an operation for performing given setting and an operation for performing another setting do not overlap (become the same operation).
For this, the wearable terminal device in recent years that employs a touch panel as an operation interfaces is known. In the touch panel, a touched position can be detected and thus, an intuitive operation is possible. For example, even in a case where there are various modes, icons corresponding to each mode are displayed in a list and the user may be allowed to perform an operation of touching a desired icon. Setting in each mode can also be realized by various methods such as performing setting differently according to the touch position, assigning various touch operations (single touch, multi-touch, flick, and the like) to each setting.
However, in the wearable terminal device, it is assumed that a size of the touch panel is very small. For example, as can be understood by taking a size of a dial of the wristwatch into consideration, when it is a wristwatch type, the size of the touch panel is approximately several centimeters in length and breadth respectively. For that reason, there is a concern that a screen cannot be seen by a finger or the like trying to touch or a point different from the intention is touched.
In particular, in the wearable terminal device that acquires biological information and activity amount information, it is also assumed to be used in a state where relatively intense activity such as exercise is being performed. For example, it is useful to cause the wearable terminal device to execute settings such as measuring the lap time during running, displaying a pulse rate for confirming exercise intensity, displaying a moving distance, and the user needs to perform the operation for executing settings. In this case, the operation is performed while moving the body and thus, using of the touch panel increases a possibility of erroneous operation.
For that reason, it is desirable to use not a touch panel, but an interface having a mechanical structure. As long as the interface has a mechanical structure, a certain amount of force is required for an operation, whatever form is used, such as pressing of a button, rotation of a rotating member, sliding of a stick shaped member, and the like and when an effective operation is performed (for example, when the button is sufficiently pressed), a physical feedback called a change in feel is done to the user. With this, even during exercise or the like, it is possible to reliably and accurately perform the operation on the wearable terminal device.
In a conventional wristwatch-type device (multifunctional wristwatch), an interface or the like in which for example, a pressing type mode selection button is provided and modes are switched one by one by single pressing of the mode selection button is known. However, in such an operation interface, in a case where the number of modes becomes large, a situation in which the button must be pressed many times in order to select a desired mode occurs, which is undesirable. This is a problem to be solved caused by the fact that the number of physical buttons provided in the wristwatch-type device is small, only one button can be used for mode selection, and in a broad sense, various operations cannot be performed.
In particular, many wearable terminal devices in recent years can directly or indirectly be connected to a network to acquire information. For example, the wearable terminal device itself may have a communication unit that performs communication via a network such as the Internet. Otherwise, the wearable terminal device may be connected to another device (for example, a PC or a smartphone), that performs communication via a network, using a wired cable or short-range wireless communication and may acquire information from the network via the other device. In this case, the function (mode) of the wearable terminal device may be added due to firmware update or the like and the interface using the mode selection button becomes more complicated.
Also, even in a conventional wristwatch, a wristwatch for performing mode selection by rotation of a rotational bezel is disclosed. In such a timepiece, it is possible to quickly and intuitively select a desired mode from a plurality of modes. However, in the conventional method, a relationship between a state of the rotational bezel and the mode is fixed. For example, when characters such as “TIME” and “STOPWATCH” are physically described (engraved or printed) at each rotational position of a rotational bezel and the rotational position described as the “TIME” is selected, the mode is necessarily set to a time display mode. Such a conventional method cannot be said to be an appropriate interface in a case where adding or updating of functions by update or the like is taken into consideration.
As disclosed in PTL 1, a method of combining a mechanical structure (hardware) and a pointer (GUI) has also been proposed, but a sense of how far the pointer moves on the screen after how much hardware is moved is greatly different among individuals and adjustment is complicated. It is difficult to move a pointer displayed on a small screen to a desired position and it cannot be said that it is a highly convenient interface. In particular, during exercise, confirmation of the pointer position and movement to a target position are extremely difficult.
1.2 Overview of Present Embodiment
Based on the matters described above, the present applicant proposes a wearable terminal device including an interface which has a mechanical structure and is able to handle various modes (functions).
Specifically, as illustrated in
The display 120 (display) is for performing various displays, and can be realized by, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like. The case 160 is a member corresponding to a main body of the wearable terminal device 100 and is provided with an operation unit such as the display 120 and the protrusion portion 150. The case 160 may incorporate the processor 110 and may include, for example, a substrate (circuit board) on which the processor 110 is mounted.
Here, an object represents a display object and various forms such as a number, a character, a character string, a figure, an icon, an image (including a background image), and the like are conceivable. For example, an identification object to be described later is also included in the object according to the present embodiment. Otherwise, one image (display image) may be generated by combining a plurality of objects and an object in this case is an element constituting the display image. For example, in a case where a display image is generated by combining a plurality of layers, the object is an element disposed in each layer and each layer includes one object or the plurality of objects. For example, the object may be stored in the storing unit 140 as information in which a display position and display content (display form) in the display 120 are defined. The object is not limited to the one displayed on the entire display area of the display 120 and may be displayed using a portion thereof. In other words, a size (resolution) of the display 120 and a size (resolution) of the object may not match. Hereinafter, an example in which an object is a display image and the display image is displayed using the entirety of the display 120 will be mainly described, but as described herein the object can be variously modified.
The protrusion portion 150 is a member that at least a portion thereof protrudes with respect to the case 160 (display 120 in a narrow sense) and in the present embodiment, the protrusion portion 150 is a member provided by being protruded from a side surface portion 163 of the case 160 toward the first direction DR1. As will be described later with reference to
The protrusion portion 150 according to the present embodiment can perform at least the slide movement operation and can perform at least one of three kinds of operations including the rotating operation, the pushing operation, and the pulling operation. As for the three operations of the rotating operation, the pushing operation, and the pulling operation, any one of the three operations may be executable, two operations may be executable, and all three operations may be executable. Otherwise, the protrusion portion 150 may be capable of operating other than four types of operations described above. Detailed configuration of the protrusion portion 150 will be described later.
The processor 110 performs various processing such as command execution in the wearable terminal device 100. The processor 110 may be a processor realized by various configurations such as a hardware circuit by a central processor (CPU), a graphics processor (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
The command specified by the detector 130 may be, for example, a specified small number (one in a narrow sense) of the plurality of commands in a situation in which a plurality of commands of the wearable terminal device 100 are predefined. The command of the wearable terminal device 100 represents a specific processing (or an execution command of the process) executed in the wearable terminal device 100. In the case of the wearable terminal device 100 according to the present embodiment, as a specific example of the command, a mode selection command, an image processing command, a sound volume adjustment command, and the like are conceivable. Processing corresponding to a mode selection command is executed in the wearable terminal device 100 by execution of each command as mode selection (transition) is performed by executing the mode selection command.
As illustrated in
According to the method of the present embodiment, it is possible to realize a wearable terminal device having the protrusion portion 150 capable of at least slide movement operation. Conventionally, although there has been known a wearable terminal device having an operation unit (operation button) which protrudes with respect to the case and is capable of being pushed in and rotated, there is no wearable terminal device performing a slide movement operation. In addition to the rotating operation, the crown provided in the conventional wristwatch can move along a protruding direction of the crown, the movement of the crown can also be interpreted as a pushing operation or a pulling operation. However, the conventional device having the crown is used only for the wristwatch and does not consider application to the multifunctional device, and the crown that performs a slide movement operation is not seen in the past. That is, in the present embodiment, the wearable terminal device 100 capable of executing operations not seen in the conventional method can be realized. In particular, the protrusion portion 150 protrudes with respect to the case 160 and thus, it is easy to operate with a finger or the like and it is also possible to realize an interface in which the possibility of erroneous operation or the like is suppressed. A specific operation example of the rotating operation, the pushing operation, the pulling operation, and the slide movement operation will be described later with reference to
The side surface portion 163 of the case 160 has an opening 164 opened along a second direction DR2 that intersects with the first direction DR1 and the protrusion portion 150 may be provided to penetrate an opening 164. Then, in a case where an external force in the second direction DR2 is applied to the protrusion portion 150, the slide movement operation may be performed along the second direction.
By doing as described above, it is possible to realize the slide movement operation along the second direction DR2 by using the opening 164. The rotating operation using the first direction DR1 as the rotation axis is not accompanied by a translational movement of the protrusion portion 150, and both the pushing operation and the pulling operation in the first direction DR1 are the translational movement performed along the first direction DR1 and are not accompanied by the translational movement in the other directions. For that reason, these operations can be realized by the configuration of the protrusion portion 150 and the case 160 similar to those of the conventional wristwatch. However, the slide movement operation is an operation which is accompanied by the translational movement of the protrusion portion 150 in the direction intersecting with the first direction DR1. In the structure of the conventional wristwatch, the possibility of interference (collision) between the protrusion portion 150 and the case 160 is high. In this respect, in the present embodiment, the opening 164 is provided as will be described later with reference to
The detector 130 may detect at least one of a sliding direction and a duration time of the slide movement operation of the protrusion portion 150 and the processor 110 may specify a command to be executed from the plurality of commands based on at least one of the detected sliding direction and the detected duration time.
Here, the sliding direction represents a direction by a slide movement operation. For example, a protrusion direction (in the example of
With this, the command execution based on the sliding direction becomes possible. For example, when a given command is set to be executed in a case where the protrusion portion 150 is slid by a given angle threshold or more, whether to execute the command or not can be determined by a threshold determination between the sliding direction θ and the angle threshold. Otherwise, as illustrated in
The duration time is information representing the time during which the slide movement operation is being continuously executed, and as an example, the time period during which the state in which the sliding direction θ exceeds a given angle threshold value is continued may be used. Thus, it is possible to execute the operation, which corresponds to a long pushing operation of the button, by the protrusion portion of the present embodiment. That is, it becomes possible to change availability of command execution or to change the command to be executed depending on not only the determination by the sliding direction θ but also depending on whether or not the duration time is greater than or equal to the given time threshold.
In any case, in the present embodiment, it is not only to realize the slide movement operation of the protrusion portion 150 not seen in the related art but also to realize an interface that enables various inputs by using the direction and duration time of the slide movement operation, and the like. In the following, an example of using the duration time in the case of
The detector 130 may detect a rotation amount and a rotation direction of a rotating operation of the protrusion portion 150, and the processor 110 may specify a command to be executed from a plurality of commands based on the detected rotation amount and rotation direction.
Here, the rotation amount represents a rotation angle (or change amount thereof) of the protrusion portion 150. The rotation direction is information indicating whether direction of rotation with respect to a rotation axis is a right-handed rotation or a left-handed rotation. In a case where the wearable terminal device 100 (protrusion portion 150) is observed from the viewpoint, which is set to the position on the DR1 side than the wearable terminal device 100, the right-handed rotation may be regarded as the counterclockwise rotation and the left-handed rotation may be regarded as the clockwise rotation, or vice versa.
Thus, it is possible to specify a command to be executed by using the direction and the amount of the rotating operation as well. For that reason, for example, it is possible to realize a plurality of kinds of operations as the rotating operations in such a way that a right-handed rotating operation and a left-handed rotating operation are handled as different operations, or handle the rotating operations as different operations depending on whether the rotation amount is larger than a given threshold value or not. As a result, it is possible to realize an interface enabling various inputs. In the following, an example of using the rotation amount in the case of
The detector 130 may detect the duration time of the pushing operation of the protrusion portion 150 and the processor 110 may specify the command to be executed from among the plurality of commands based on the detected duration time.
With this, it is possible to detect not only whether the pushing operation is performed or not but also whether the operation is continued or not, specifically whether the pushing operation has been long pressed or not. With this, it is possible to distinguish between pushing in a short time and pushing for a long time (long pushing), and the like and thus, it is possible to realize an interface enabling various inputs. In the following, although an example of using the duration time in the case of
The protrusion portion 150 may be a crown.
The crown is widely known as an interface for operating a wristwatch and thus, the crown shaped protrusion portion 150 is used so as to make it possible to realize an intuitively easy operation interface. When it is the original crown of the wristwatch, winding up of a mainspring, time adjustment, and date adjustment are performed mechanically by rotation according to the position in the protruding direction (in the present embodiment, referred to as DR1) but, in the present embodiment, the crown has the same shape as the crown of the wristwatch and it is not necessary to have a configuration in which winding up of the mainspring or the like is mechanically realized.
In a case where a first object (in a narrow sense, first display image) is being displayed, the display 120 may perform guide display to guide which command is executed by the operation using the protrusion portion 150, in the first object.
With this, it becomes possible to clarify the correspondence relationship between each operation of the protrusion portion 150 and the command executed by the operation on a display image. In the present embodiment, it is possible to perform a plurality of operations using the protrusion portion 150. As described above, it is assumed that there are many commands of the wearable terminal device 100 itself, and when it is left to the user to grasp the correspondence relationship between the operation and the command, the user's burden is large. In that respect, when the guide display is performed on the display image, it is possible to realize an interface that is easy for the user to understand. Furthermore, guide display printing or the like is not performed on the wearable terminal device 100 itself and thus, even in a case where command update processing or the like is performed, it is possible to perform appropriate guide display.
The display 120 may display a first to N-th guide objects corresponding to a first to N-th operations using the protrusion portion 150 and the processor 110 may execute an i-th command corresponding to an i-th operation in a case where it is detected that the i-th operation has been performed among the first to N-th operations.
Here, the guide object is a display object used for guiding the command, and objects having various forms can be used.
For example, the first to the N-th guide objects may be objects that display the first to the N-th commands corresponding to the first to the N-th operations to be identifiable, and character information may be used as will be described later by using B1 to B2, B4 To B7 or the like of
Thus, first, it becomes possible to correlate a given command with each operation of the protrusion portion 150. For concrete correlation, information in
The processor 110 may execute a mode selection command for selecting one of a plurality of modes of the wearable terminal device 100 based on the detection result of the detector 130.
Here, the mode of the wearable terminal device 100 corresponds to a state that the wearable terminal device 100 can take. For example, in a case where the wearable terminal device 100 has various states such as time display, alarm, stopwatch, display of altitude, display of atmospheric pressure, and display of a pulse rate, as having been referred to as the time display mode and the alarm mode, the mode is set by being corresponded to each state.
The mode selection command is a command for causing (instructing) the wearable terminal device 100 to select which mode is to be set (which mode to be transitioned to) in the case of having such various modes. An example of a display image in each mode will be described later with reference to
In each mode, a setting command in the mode may be executed based on the operation or the like of the protrusion portion 150. The setting command in the mode is a command for causing the wearable terminal device 100 to execute setting executable in each mode. For example, in the case of a mode in which log data of pulse wave information (pulse rate) is displayed, depending on a usage situation of the user, it is believed that there are cases where it is desired to display a graph of one day or it is desired to display a graph of several hours. Accordingly, in the pulse wave mode, it is desirable to enable zoom up (zoom in) setting and zoom down (zoom out) setting of the graph. Specifically, a zoom-up command and a zoom-down command can be executed as the setting commands in the mode. It is not hindered that there is a mode that does not have a setting command (only display is performed in this example) as in the timepiece mode. Details of a transition example of a display image in a case where the setting command is executed will be described later with reference to
By doing as described above, it becomes possible to execute mode selection using the protrusion portion 150. Various relationships between each operation using the protrusion portion 150 and the mode selection command executed by the operation are conceivable and thus, flexible setting is possible. For example, from the viewpoint of simplifying the operation unit other than the protrusion portion 150 as much as possible, some of operations (for example, rotating operation) among a plurality of operations of the protrusion portion 150 may be used for execution of a mode selection command and other operations (such as a pushing operation, a pulling operation, a slide movement operation) may be used for execution of the setting command in each mode. This example will be described later with reference to
The processor 110 may execute at least one command of a rotation command, a movement command, and a sizing command of an object displayed on the display 120 based on the detection result of the detector 130.
Although various ways of recognizing the rotation command, the movement command, and the sizing command here are conceivable, it may be considered as one type of setting command in a certain mode for displaying an object (image in a narrow sense), for example. The rotation command is a command to rotate (change the rotation amount with respect to the reference attitude) an image, the movement command is a command to change a display position of the image within the display area, and the sizing command is a command to change a display size of the image. Here, the image may be a log (history graph) such as a pulse rate, and the sizing command in that case corresponds to the zoom up command and the zoom down command described above. Otherwise, image data such as a picture or an illustration stored in the storing unit 140 of the wearable terminal device 100 may be used as the object. Details will be described later with reference to
Thus, it is possible to realize various processing on the displayed object by an easy-to-understand operation interface.
The processor 110 may execute a sound volume adjustment command based on the detection result of the detector 130.
Here, the sound volume represents a size of sound (alarm sound, voice, music) generated by the wearable terminal device 100. Thus, it is possible to realize processing of adjusting the sound volume by an easy-to-understand operation interface. Details will be described later with reference to
The method of the present embodiment can be applied to the wearable terminal device which includes the display 120 that displays an object, the case 160 provided with the display 120, the protrusion portion 150 provided so as to protrude in the first direction DR1 from the side surface portion 163 of the case 160 in plan view from a normal direction of the display 120, the detector 130 that detects at least the slide movement operation of the protrusion portion 150 in the direction intersecting with the first direction DR1, and the processor 110 that executes a command specified based on the detection result by the detector 130 among a plurality of commands and in which when the first object is displayed, the display 120 performs guide display for guiding which command is executed by the operation using the protrusion portion 150 in the first object.
As described above, in the wearable terminal device 100 of recent years in which high functionality is remarkable, execution of various commands is indispensable. For that reason, causing a user to remember information on which command among various commands is executed by the operation using the protrusion portion 150 causes a large user burden. For that reason, it is important to perform the guide display to clearly display the correlation between the operation content and the command to be executed in the display image, from the viewpoint of reduction of the user's burden, prevention of erroneous operation, and the like. In this case, the protrusion portion 150 capable of the slide movement operation which cannot be seen with the conventional crown and the like is used so that a flexible operation by the protrusion portion 150 becomes possible and an intuitive and easy-to-understand operation of the wearable terminal device 100 together with the guide display can be realized.
The method of the present embodiment can be applied to the wearable terminal device which includes the display 120 for displaying an object, the case 160 provided with the display 120, the protrusion portion 150 provided so as to protrude in the first direction DR1 from the side surface portion 163 of the case 160 in plan view from a normal direction of the display 120, the detector 130 that detects at least the rotating operation of the protrusion portion 150 using the first direction DR1 as a rotation axis, and the processor 110 that executes a command specified based on the detection result by the detector 130 among a plurality of commands and in which when the first object is displayed, the display 120 performs guide display for guiding which command is executed by the operation using the protrusion portion 150 in the first object.
In a case where the slide movement operation is not a prerequisite, an operation interface capable of realizing the rotating operation is not limited to the protrusion portion 150. For example, as illustrated in
In
The wearable terminal device 100 includes the case 160, the display 120, the protrusion portion 150, a glass 170 serving as a protective member of the display 120, a band portion 180 used for fixing (mounting) the wearable terminal device 100 to the user. In the wearable terminal device 100,
In the following description, for ease of explanation, directions and the like may be expressed using a given coordinate system. Specifically, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Of the case 160, a surface on the side opposite to the upper surface portion, that is, a surface which is positioned on the Z-axis negative direction side and is close to the living body (in a narrow sense, it comes into contact with the living body) in the worn state is set as the lower surface portion 162. A surface of the case 160 connecting the upper surface portion 161 and the lower surface portion 162 is set as the side surface portion 163. In the example of
That is, the case 160 according to the present embodiment is a hollow member having the upper surface portion 161, the lower surface portion 162, and the side surface portion 163 as boundaries, and accommodates a circuit substrate in which the processor 110 is installed, the display 120, and the like in the case 160 (Z-axis direction negative direction side than the upper surface portion 161, Z-axis positive direction side than the lower surface portion 162, and inner side of the side surface portion 163 in the XY plane).
However, the detailed structure of the case 160 can be variously modified. For example, the upper surface portion 161 and the lower surface portion 162 may be respectively a curved surface rather than a flat surface, or may have irregularities. Also, the side surface portion 163 may be a surface along the Z-axis direction, a structure having a given angle with respect to the Z-axis direction, a structure having irregularities, or the like can be adopted. Specifically, the side surface portion 163 is provided with the opening 164 for allowing the protrusion portion 150 to protrude from the inside to the outside of the case 160.
A specific example of the protrusion portion 150 will be described. The protrusion portion 150 is a member that protrudes from the side surface portion 163 in the first direction DR1. Here, the first direction DR1 represents the protruding direction of the protrusion portion 150 with respect to the side surface portion 163, so that the first direction DR1 may be any direction as long as it intersects with the side surface portion 163, and various settings are possible. For example, it may be a direction orthogonal to the side surface portion 163, and may be a direction included in the XY plane as long as the side surface portion 163 has a surface along the Z-axis direction. Hereinafter, as illustrated in
The protrusion portion 150 can perform at least a rotating operation with DR1 as a rotation axis and a pushing operation along DR1. That is, the protrusion portion 150 is not completely fixed to the case 160. Since the pushing operation is possible, the case 160 is designed so that a portion of the protrusion portion 150 can be accommodated inside the case 160. That is, the case 160 has the opening 164 in the side surface portion 163 and the protrusion portion 150 is provided so as to penetrate through the case 160 at the position of the opening 164.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As can be seen from
For example, as illustrated in
In contrast, as illustrated in
In this case, although the slide movement operation may be an operation subjected to a parallel movement while maintaining the protruding direction (DR1) with respect to the case 160, when the movement mechanism is taken into consideration, it is assumed that it is an operation of changing the protruding direction with respect to the case 160, that is, an operation of tilting the protrusion portion 150 with respect to the case 160 is performed as illustrated in
With reference to
In order to facilitate the user's operation, the size of the operation member 151 may be larger than that of other members such as the support member 152 and may include, for example, a member having a substantially cylindrical shape. Most of the operation member 151 (the whole in a narrow sense) is exposed to the outside of the side surface portion 163 when operability is taken into consideration. The support member 152 is a member that connects a portion of the protrusion portion 150 exposed to the outside of the side surface portion 163 and a portion accommodated inside the case 160 to each other, and is provided at a position at which the side surface portion 163 is penetrated through.
The support member 152 and the operation member 151 may be configured to be relatively rotatable rather than being completely fixed. For example, as illustrated in
With this, the operation member 151 is rotatable with respect to the support member 152, and since the rotation axis thereof is the DR1 which is the longitudinal direction of the rod-like member, that is, the protrusion direction with respect to the side surface portion 163, it is possible to realize a rotating operation of the protrusion portion 150 with the rotation axis of DR1 as the rotation axis. Various modifications can be made to a specific structure, in which the operation member 151 can be configured to be rotatable, such as providing a projection portion on the operation member 151, providing a recess in the support member 152.
The elastic member 153 extends and contracts in the X-axis direction in a case where a force in the first direction DR1 or a force in the opposite direction to DR1 is applied to the operation member 151. With this, the position of the operation member 151 (and the support member 152) in the X-axis direction can be changed and the pushing operation and pulling operation can be realized. In the case of using the structure illustrated in
In a case where a force in the second direction DR2 is applied to the operation member 151, a member (153-1 in
Next, a method of detecting each operation for the protrusion portion 150 will be described. As illustrated in
The first contact 191 is configured to be movable accompanied by the movement of the operation member 151 and the support member 152 along the first direction DR1. For example, as illustrated in
Also, regarding the pulling operation, in a state where the pushing operation is not performed, it suffices if a third contact 193 which does not contact with the first contact 191 and makes contact with the first contact 191 during the pulling operation is provided. A circuit that realizes each contact by an electrical contact and detects the contact state of the contact as the detector 130 is used so as to make it possible to detect the pulling operation by the detector 130. The third contact 193 may be provided at a position at which the position in the Z axis direction is located at the X axis positive direction side than the position of the first contact 191 in the normal state, of the case 160. As long as a relative positional relationship between the operation member 151 and the support member 152 is changed by the pulling operation as illustrated in
Also, regarding the slide movement operation, in the state where the slide movement operation is not performed, a fourth contact 194 may be provided so as not to make contact with the first contact 191 but to make contact with the first contact 191 during the slide movement operation. A circuit that realizes each contact by an electrical contact and detects the contact state of the contact as the detector 130 is used so as to make it possible to detect the slide movement operation by the detector 130. As an example, the fourth contact 194 disposed at the position illustrated in
The rotating operation can be detected by various methods. For example, when the rod-like member and the support member 152 are the screw and the threaded hole, a method of detecting a rotation state of the screw is widely known. For example, a detection switch of the crown rotation amount in a general wristwatch may be used as the detector 130. In the configuration illustrated in
Next, an example of a display image displayed on the display 120 and an example of a relationship between each display image and the operation for the protrusion portion 150 will be described.
3.1 Example of Mode and Examples of Display Image and Guide Object
As described above, it is assumed that the wearable terminal device in recent years is multifunctional and thus, the number of executable commands increases. In the present embodiment, in order to realize an intuitive and easy-to-understand interface even in such a situation, it is possible to perform a plurality of operations using the protrusion portion 150 and enable various input operations.
However, due to the matters that various input operations are possible, it is difficult for the user to grasp the correspondence relationship as to what kind of commands can be executed by the wearable terminal device 100 by performing which operation. Even if a separate manual is prepared, an act of browsing the manual of a paper medium or browsing an electronic manual with a given device (PC, smartphone, wearable terminal device 100) is cumbersome and the user's burden is large.
For that reason, it is useful to display the correspondence relationship between the operation for the protrusion portion 150 and the command to be executed (or being executed) in the wearable terminal device 100 on the display image.
For example, in a state in which a given display image (first display image) is being displayed on the display 120, when any operation is performed for the protrusion portion 150, a guide display for guiding which command is executed may be performed on the display image.
An example of a specific display image is illustrated in
In a display image for guiding a command corresponding to the operation of the protrusion portion 150, for example, a guide object (identification object) may be displayed at a position corresponding to each operation in the display image. For example, in a case where the display 120 has a circular display area and the display image is also a circular shape, the guide object may be disposed at a portion (area including B1, B2, and B4 to B7 in
In particular, in the example of
Also, when the rotating operation is taken into consideration, the movement direction of the surface (surface on the Z-axis positive direction side) observable in
In view of the fact that the protrusion portion 150 moves in the Y-axis direction in the slide movement operation, as guide objects B6 and B7 corresponding to the slide movement operation, curve shaped arrows extending from the reference position toward the Y-axis positive direction side are used. In the example of
In
By doing as described above, it is possible to guide the relationship between an operation and a command in each display image, but it is considered that an executable command depends on a mode. For example, as described above, when it is a stopwatch mode, the necessary commands (setting commands) are start, stop, and the like, and when it is a mode for displaying log data (for example, a history graph displayed in a pulse wave mode), the necessary commands are zoom-up, zoom-down, and the like. The setting command is used for each mode so as to make it possible to assign the same operation to different commands. For example, even with the same operation on the protrusion portion 150, it is also possible to change the command to be executed by the wearable terminal device 100 in the stopwatch mode and the pulse wave mode. That is, when the matters that the display content of the guide object varies for each mode and the display image is different in each mode are taken into consideration, the display content (number of displays, type, or mode) of the guide object for each display image may be changed.
In
In the example of
The display image in each mode will be described. At the timepiece mode (C1), time information (C11) and date information (C12) are displayed. At a time display mode, it is only necessary to display the time and the setting command in the mode is not required. For that reason, the guide object is not displayed in the display image illustrated in C1.
Although omitted in
In the stopwatch mode (C2), a stopwatch type icon (C21) corresponding to the mode, measurement time information (C22), and time information (C23) are displayed. The setting command to be executed in the stopwatch mode is a start command, a stop command, a reset command, a lap command, a log display or the like as described above. However, it is not necessary for each command to be executable at all times in the stopwatch mode. For example, when it is before start of measurement, only the start command and the log display command may be executed and other commands are not executed. Also, when it is during the measurement, the stop command and the lap command can be executed, and when it is after the start of measurement and during the stop, the start command (measurement restart), the reset command, and the log display command can be executed.
In
In a case where the pushing operation is performed in the state of E1, the state is transitioned into a measurement state. An example of the display image in the measurement state is E2. In the measurement state, it suffices if the stop command and the lap command are executable and thus, the stop command is assigned to the pushing operation and a lap command is assigned to the slide movement operation in the Y-axis negative direction side. In the display image, a guide object E21 which includes a character string “stop” indicating the stop command and corresponds to the pushing operation and a guide object E22 which includes a character string “Lap” indicating the lap command and corresponds to the slide movement operation are displayed. As indicated by E1 and E2, the same operability as a general stopwatch is realized by assigning the start command and the stop command to the same pushing operation, but assignment of the commands is not limited thereto.
Also, in a case where the pushing operation is performed in the measurement state, the state is shifted to the state after the start of measurement and during stop. An example of a displayed image in that case is E3. In E3, it suffices if a start command meaning restart of measurement, a reset command to reset the measurement time, and a log display are executable. In E3, the start command is assigned to the pushing operation, the reset command is assigned to the slide movement operation on the Y-axis positive direction side, and the log display command is assigned to the pulling operation. In the display image, a guide object E31 which includes a character string “start” indicating the start command and corresponds to the pushing operation, a guide object E32 which includes a character string “reset” indicating the reset command and corresponds to the slide movement operation, and a guide object E33 which includes a character string “log” indicating the log display command and corresponds to a pulling operation are displayed. In E3, an example in which the latest lap information (E34) is displayed on the display image on the assumption that the lap command is executed in E2 and lap information is acquired is illustrated. Acquired lap information can also be displayed on a display image such as E2.
In a case where a pulling operation is performed in the state of E1 or E3, the state is shifted to the log display state. An example of a displayed image in that case is E4. In E4, a character string Log (E41) indicating that the log display is performed, time information (E42, E44) at which the measurement is started, acquired lap information (E43, E45), and current time information (E46) are displayed. In the example of E4, the number of pieces of lap information displayed at one time in each measurement is limited to two and thus, in order to cope with acquisition of three or more pieces of lap information, lap information to be displayed can be selected by the rotating operation. In this case, the rotating operation corresponds to the lap information selection command, and the clockwise rotating operation is correlated with a command for selecting lap information one before the lap information (information on the lower side of E45 being highlighted in
In the pulse wave mode (C3), a heart-shaped icon (C31), pulse rate information (C32), a graph (C33) illustrating the history of the pulse rate, and time information (C34) are displayed. In a case where log data is displayed as in C33, a period to be displayed may be made variable. Accordingly, a zoom-up command and a zoom-down command may be executed as the setting commands. Accordingly, in C3, each command of zoom-up and zoom-down is assigned to the slide movement operation and a guide object is displayed at a corresponding display position. Specifically, a zoom down command is assigned to the slide movement operation on the Y-axis positive direction side and a guide object (C35) which includes a character string “ZOOM DOWN” for explaining the command is displayed. Similarly, a zoom up command is assigned to the slide movement operation on the Y-axis negative direction side and a guide object (C36) which includes a character string “ZOOM UP” for explaining the command is displayed.
In
3.2 Modification Example of Guide Object
Although an example of a display image, particularly a display example of a guide object has been described with reference to
Specifically, in a case where the number of setting commands increases, a setting command is correlated with an operation not previously correlated with a setting command, like the pushing operation or the pulling operation in C3 of
Although an object including a character string is illustrated as an example of a guide object, different modifications can also be made. For example, when further simplification of display and an increase in visibility of the display image are taken into consideration, only the arrow may be displayed. For example, regarding an operation which is correlated with a certain setting command and in which the operation is performed so as to cause a command to be executed, a corresponding guide object (arrow) is displayed and the guide object corresponding to the operation, which is not correlated with the setting command and for which the command is not executed even when the operation is executed, is not displayed.
In this example, although it is not possible to indicate the contents of the command, it is clearly indicated to the user whether the command is executed or not in a case where each operation is performed. If the protrusion portion 150 is operated but the displayed image has not changed, it is not easy for the user to estimate factors, such as whether the setting command is not assigned and is a normal operation in the first place, whether the setting command is assigned but the wearable terminal device 100 is not operating normally due to failure or the like, or whether the operation was inappropriate (for example, whether the pushing amount was small). When that point is taken into consideration, it can be said that it is a useful interface only by explicitly indicating the operation that the command is not executed.
3.3 Examples of Other Modes
The modes of the wearable terminal device 100 are not limited to those described above with reference to
For example, the wearable terminal device 100 may execute a movement command, a rotation command, and a sizing command for a given display object (image in a narrow sense). Specifically, the wearable terminal device 100 has an image processing mode and executes three commands described above as setting commands in the image processing mode.
H1 and H2 in
In the present embodiment, as described above, the duration time of the pushing operation or the pulling operation, or the rotation amount of the rotating operation may be detected. In the example of
H3 and H4 in
H5 and H6 in
For example, in a case where it is intended to browse images on the small display 120 of the wearable terminal device 100, it is unable to realize an easy-to-browse interface by simply displaying the entire image on the display 120. In that respect, when enlargement and reduction is made possible, a desired portion of the image can be properly browsed. There is a possibility that only a portion of the image can be browsed in a case where the image is enlarged and thus, there are great advantages of performing the translation movement and rotation movement for browsing a desired region.
In a case where the wearable terminal device 100 has an alarm mode, it is conceivable to notify by sound. In a case where there is an operation on the wearable terminal device 100, there is also the possibility of sounding an operation sound as feedback. Otherwise, in the recent wearable terminal device 100, equipment capable of e-mail reception notification and music playback also increases.
For that reason, it is common to output some kind of sound from the wearable terminal device 100 and there is a demand for adjusting the sound volume thereof. Accordingly, the wearable terminal device 100 may execute a sound volume adjustment command. Specifically, the wearable terminal device 100 may have a tone adjustment mode and may execute the sound volume adjustment command as a setting command in the sound volume adjustment mode.
Next, information stored in the storing unit 140 and read and used by the processor 110 will be described. In the processor 110 of the wearable terminal device 100 according to the present embodiment, in a case where each operation of the protrusion portion 150 is performed, it is necessary to execute a command corresponding to the operation. For that purpose, the correspondence relationship between the detection result in the detector 130 and the command to be executed should be clear, and information defining the correspondence relationship may be stored in the storing unit 140.
Accordingly, the storing unit 140 may store command specifying information. The command specifying information is information for specifying the command based on the operation as described above and is information for uniquely specifying a command to be executed in a case where the mode and the operation on the protrusion portion 150 are decided, in a narrow sense.
NULL in
Furthermore, in a case where a given operation is detected in each mode, the processor 110 executes the command specified from
In
Although the embodiment has been described in detail as above, it will be easily understood by a person skilled in the art that many modifications not deviating practically from the novel matters and effects of the invention are possible. Accordingly, all such modifications are regarded as being included in the scope of the invention. For example, terms described at least once in the specification or drawings together with terms in a broader sense or equivalent different terms can be replaced with the equivalent different term at any point in the specification or drawings. Further, the configuration and operation of the wearable terminal device are not limited to those described in the embodiment, and various modifications can be made thereto.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-208019 | Oct 2015 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2016/080882 | 10/18/2016 | WO | 00 |