JP2001290572A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor which can present information on the sense of touch according to color attribute information of an image. SOLUTION: To present the information on the sense of touch to an operator, a sense-of-touch information arithmetic means 4 performs operation based upon color attribute information included in display information obtained from a display information storage means 42 and outputs a control signal to a control means 46 in sequence. The control means 46 receives the control signal from the arithmetic means 44 and outputs a driving signal, generated by computing a displacement quantity, a vibration frequency, or a control gain to be applied, to a sense-of-touch presenting means 24. Further, the driving signal is transmitted to a driving means 54 through a driving circuit of an A/D converter 52 and a driving control circuit part 50 to driven the sense-of-touch presenting means 24, thereby presenting the information on the sense of touch to the operator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting information using tactile information to an operator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In daily life, humans are required to provide visual information,
It is natural to judge things using sensation information based on the five senses such as voice information, tactile information, etc.
In information processing devices represented by current personal computers (hereinafter referred to as personal computers), use of audio information has come to be seen, but visual information is still predominantly used. Therefore, it can be said that the current personal computer has a limited interface depending on visual information.

For example, in a graphical user interface displayed on a screen, it is necessary to always follow the position of the pointer with eyes, and there is a case where a click designation place is small. It cannot be said that the interface is easy to use for elderly people and those with low vision. Also, image information and text information such as photographs browsed on the Internet are sharpened only by visual information with respect to the large amount of information.

[0004] On a homepage published on the Internet, the file format is usually H.
This is a hypertext format described in TML (Hyper Text Markup Language), and a hyperlink (also simply referred to as a link) is set for a text indicating a related document name or a related URL (Uniform Resource Locator) on the document. You. The amount of text and image information posted on recent homepages is large, and many of them have links at various places on the homepage. If the text is posted on the home page at a high density (especially English pages are often in small fonts and the text is posted at a high density), reading the text is a heavy burden on the eyes. May be. In particular, when it is determined whether or not a link is set to a specific text or image portion, it is possible to recognize the link only when the shape of the cursor changes.

Conventionally, as a method for solving the above-mentioned problem, an attempt has been made to transmit image information, text information or shape information using tactile information in an information device. For example, in the device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-77944, a small contact arranged in a plane is driven and vibrated in an arbitrary time-spatial pattern so that a sense of contact with the surface can be changed.

A method for converting visual information such as image information and text information into tactile information is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-1.
The technology of Japanese Patent Application No. 02997 is known. The mouse device presented here is a pointing device provided with a feedback unit that allows the user to know from the tactile information that the mouse cursor has passed over the boundary between windows and buttons. The housing of this mouse device is provided with a member that moves up and down (vibrates), and based on the tactile stimulus value obtained by processing the luminance information of the screen color into four or two gradations. It is described that tactile information is output by moving the member.

The technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-207628 describes a method for associating the attribute of a component in application software with a tactile stimulus. This is a method in which a tactile stimulus value is allocated in advance to a component having the attribute to a component to which tactile information is to be added, such as a window frame in a screen.

Further, as a method of calculating tactile information based on image information, reference is made to a document "Yasu Ikei, Akihisa Ikeno, Kazufumi Wakamatsu,
Shuichi Fukuda: Multi-tone display in tactile display, Proceedings of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (No. 95-17) Robotics and Mechatronics Conference '95, Vol.
105-108 "(hereinafter referred to as Document 1). In this technique, a color image is converted to a gray scale, and the brightness and contrast of the gray scale are adjusted and used as tactile information. That is, the image information is converted to gray scale, or the gray scaled luminance pattern is corrected, and the tactile information is obtained from the gradation data. In addition, a document “Kazufumi Wakamatsu, Nari Ikei, Shoichi Fukuda: Data Dependence Characteristics in Display of Tactile Textures, Transactions of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan, Vol. 1 (Oct. 1996), pp. 185-
188 "(hereinafter referred to as Document 2),
In order to improve the matching between the image as the real object and the tactile sensation to be reproduced, several types of tactile information patterns that correspond to the luminance of the geometric shape of the image, different from the simple luminance pattern of the image, are created, and Tactile information pattern that matches

[0009]

However, the above-mentioned conventional apparatus has the following problems.

According to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-102997, calculating the vibration stimulus value from the brightness information by simply considering the image information as brightness pattern information requires the meaning of the image or text information. There is a problem that stimulus presentation is neglected, the applicable range is narrowed, and separation cannot be performed when the hue is different even with the same luminance.

In the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-207628, it is necessary to define each attribute in advance, and there is a problem that it cannot be universally used for any image or text. .

The techniques described in Documents 1 and 2 have a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a gradation characteristic for an image in which different colors having substantially the same brightness are mixed. Also, in a relatively simple text document composed of a character and a background portion, a specific character, for example, a red or blue character (this is often used for a link portion on a homepage published on the Internet). However, when the tactile information is presented only for the purpose of emphasis, there is a problem that the tactile information is output with any character in the calculation method using only the contrast between the character and the background portion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an information processing apparatus capable of presenting tactile information based on color attribute information of an image.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display for displaying an image, pointing means for indicating a part of the image displayed on the display, and presenting tactile information to an operator. Tactile sensation presenting means, storage means for storing color attribute information of an image portion to which the tactile information is to be presented, color attribute information of an image portion designated by the pointing means, and a color stored in the storage means. And control means for controlling the tactile sensation providing means so as to present tactile information to the operator when the attribute information matches.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores predetermined color attribute information of the image portion to which tactile information is to be presented. Further, the control unit acquires color attribute information of a portion specified by the pointing unit in the image displayed on the display. Further, the control means controls the tactile sensation providing means so as to present tactile information to the operator when the acquired color attribute information matches the color attribute information stored in the storage means. Thus, when the operator instructs a part of the image having the predetermined color attribute information to present the tactile information by the pointing means, the tactile information can be presented to the operator.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores a plurality of pieces of color attribute information of an image portion where the tactile information is to be presented, and each of the color attribute information. It is characterized in that corresponding different tactile information is stored in advance.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores in advance a plurality of pieces of color attribute information of the image portion to which the tactile information is to be presented, and different tactile information corresponding to each of the color attribute information. I do. Therefore, based on the correspondence between the color attribute information and the tactile information, the tactile information to be presented to the operator is determined according to the color attribute information of the image portion indicated by the pointing unit in the image displayed on the display. be able to. Thereby, for example, different tactile information can be presented for a plurality of image portions having different color attribute information.

The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
In the invention described in the above, the control means, when the color attribute information of the image portion designated by the pointing means and the color attribute information stored in the storage means do not match, the tactile presentation by the tactile presentation means It is characterized by not being performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control means presents the tactile information when the color attribute information of the image portion designated by the pointing means does not match the color attribute information stored in the storage means. do not do. Thus, the operator can clearly identify the difference between the components on the image configuration depending on whether or not the tactile information is presented, without depending on the visual information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display for displaying an image, pointing means for indicating a part of the image displayed on the display, tactile presentation means for presenting tactile information to an operator, Storage means for storing in advance the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image portion to which the tactile information is to be presented; the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image portion specified by the pointing means; and the color attribute stored in the storage means Control means for controlling the tactile sensation providing means based on the amount of change in the information.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores a predetermined change amount of the color attribute information of the image portion where the tactile information is to be presented. In addition, the control unit calculates a change amount of the color attribute information according to a change in a portion indicated by the pointing unit in the image displayed on the display. Further, the control means controls the tactile sensation providing means based on the calculated change amount of the color attribute information and the change amount of the color attribute information stored in the storage means. This allows the tactile information to be presented to the operator based on the amount of change in the color attribute information associated with the change in the image portion indicated by the pointing device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the storage means includes: a change amount of a plurality of pieces of color attribute information of an image portion to which the tactile information is to be presented; And different tactile information corresponding to each of the change amounts is stored in advance.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the storage means includes a plurality of change amounts of the color attribute information of the image portion where the tactile information is to be presented, and a difference corresponding to each of the change amounts of the color attribute information. The tactile information is stored in advance. Therefore, based on the correspondence between the change amount of the color attribute information and the tactile information, the operator changes the color attribute information according to the change amount of the portion indicated by the pointing means in the image displayed on the display. Can be determined. Thereby, for example, different tactile information can be presented for a plurality of different amounts of change in the color attribute information.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 4 or 5
Wherein the control means presents tactile information when the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image portion specified by the pointing means is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount.

According to the invention described in claim 6, the control means presents tactile information when the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image portion specified by the pointing means is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. Thereby, for example, the operator can recognize the specific portion by determining the presence or absence of the tactile information by determining the predetermined amount in advance based on the change amount of the color attribute information corresponding to the specific image configuration that the operator wants to pay attention to. Can be.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, the control means is configured to control the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image portion specified by the pointing means. Is less than a predetermined value, the tactile presentation by the tactile presentation means is not performed.

According to the present invention, the control means does not present the tactile information when the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image portion specified by the pointing means is less than a predetermined value. Accordingly, the operator can clearly recognize the change in the image configuration depending on the presence or absence of the tactile information without depending on the visual information, in accordance with the change in the image portion instructed by the pointing means.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the color attribute information includes at least one of hue and saturation, or brightness, and hue. And at least one of saturation and saturation.

According to the present invention, at least one attribute value of hue and saturation or an attribute value obtained by combining lightness with at least one of hue and saturation is stored in the color attribute information of the image part. Used as This makes it possible to set conditions for presenting tactile information with a high degree of freedom in response to an arbitrary change in the color attribute of the image portion.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the tactile sensation providing means includes a mounting surface on which an operator places a finger. And the control unit reciprocates the mounting member in a horizontal direction with respect to the mounting surface, thereby presenting tactile information to an operator.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the tactile sensation providing means includes the placing member having the placing surface on which the operator places the finger. The mounting member is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction with respect to the mounting surface of the operator's finger.
In presenting the tactile information with the movement of the pointing unit of the pointing means, the control means reciprocates the mounting member horizontally with respect to the mounting surface of the operator's finger,
Present tactile information to the operator. Thus, the operator can receive the tactile information along the moving direction of the pointing unit of the pointing means as if actually tracing the surface of the image.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the pointing means is a mouse-type input device for moving a cursor. The present invention is characterized in that the tactile sense presenting means is arranged in a part of a housing.

According to the tenth aspect, the pointing means is a mouse-type input device for moving a cursor. The operator usually moves the cursor,
An operation is performed by placing fingers on the housing. Therefore, by arranging the tactile sensation presenting unit at the position where the finger of the input device housing is placed, the tactile information is presented to the operator who operates the input device without impairing the operability of the input device. be able to.

[0034]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment
A main memory 14 including a ROM for storing fixed information such as a BIOS and a RAM for storing variable information;
An external storage device 16 including a floppy (registered trademark) disk device, a hard disk device, a CD-ROM device, an MO device, etc., a display 18 including a CRT or a liquid crystal for displaying an image, and input means , A pointing device 22 for moving a pointer cursor (hereinafter, referred to as a cursor) such as a mouse, a touch pad (also referred to as a finger pad), a trackball, and the like, and a driving force generation unit (details will be described later). And a communication device 28 for performing data communication with the outside via a network, and are connected to each other via a bus 26 so that data can be exchanged with each other. Further, the communication device 28 includes an information transmission system 30 including another communication device 32, another CPU 34, and the like.
Are connected via a network and can communicate with each other.

The information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment
0 can be classified into functional blocks shown in FIG. The control unit 40 including the CPU 12 and the main memory 14 includes a display information storage unit 42 and a tactile information calculation unit 4.
4 and a control means 46.
Reference numeral 4 (details will be described later) is connected to the display information storage means 42 and the control means 46 so that data can be exchanged.

The display information storage means 42 is provided on the display 1
8 and stores attribute information including color information on images to be displayed on the display 18 and images including text, and display information including attribute information on a desktop environment such as screen layout and window boundaries. It is for doing.

The control means 46 outputs a signal representing the position coordinates of the cursor on the display image on the display 18 (hereinafter referred to as a signal).
This is called a cursor coordinate signal. ) Is connected to the pointing device 22 for outputting the current cursor coordinate signal and transmitting it to the tactile information calculation means 44. Thereby, the tactile information calculation means 44
Can acquire from the display information storage means 42 the display information at the coordinate position of the cursor represented by the received cursor coordinate signal. The cursor coordinate signal output from the pointing device 22 is processed as display information by the CPU 12, and displayed on the display 18 in the form of a cursor by the display information storage means 42.

The control means 46 is connected to the tactile presentation means 24 having a tactile presentation section 54 and a driving force generation section 48 so as to be able to exchange data. Further, the tactile sense presentation unit 54 includes a stimulus presentation unit 60 that presents a direct contact stimulus to the user, and a driving unit 5 that drives the stimulus presentation unit 60.
6 and a position sensor 58 for detecting a displacement of the driving means 56, and the driving force generating section 48 includes a driving control circuit section 5 including a driving circuit, an amplification circuit, and a modulation circuit.
0 and an A / D converter 52.

The drive control circuit section 50 is connected so as to be able to output a signal to the driving means of the tactile sense presentation section 54 and is connected so as to be able to receive the signal from the position sensor 58 of the tactile sense presentation section 54. Further, it is connected via an A / D converter 52 so that data can be exchanged with the control means 46.

It should be noted that the tactile sense presentation section 54 and the pointing
The device 22 is configured as an input device 62 by mounting the tactile sensation providing unit 54 on the pointing device 22.

Here, an example of a specific configuration of the input device 62 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail.

The input device 62A shown in FIG.
A mouse-type pointing device (hereinafter, referred to as a mouse unit) 22A is provided with a tactile display unit including a driving unit (not shown), a position sensor (not shown), and a stimulus display unit 60A. ing. Further, a stimulus presenting section 60A is provided on the mouse housing 76 by an elastic mounting member 78, and is configured to be able to press the click button switch 70 (see FIG. 3B). Also,
As shown in FIG. 3C, the stimulus presenting unit 60A is configured to be movable in the vertical and horizontal directions (in the direction of the arrow 80) on the surface of the finger contact unit. The mouse unit 22A for moving the cursor is configured to convert the rotation of the ball 72 into position information by the encoder unit 74 and transmit a signal to a personal computer (not shown).

Next, an outline of the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to a processing routine shown in FIG.

First, in step 100, it is determined whether or not the system of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is operating, that is, whether or not the system is on. If a negative determination is made in step 100, the system is off, and this processing routine ends. on the other hand,
If a positive determination is made in step 100, step 102
Then, it is determined whether the current operation state of the system is at the time of activation or at the time of changing the setting of a condition for presenting tactile information described later. If a positive determination is made in step 102, the process proceeds to step 104, where the latest condition for presenting the tactile information is read, and the process proceeds to the next step 106. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 102, the process proceeds to step 106. Here, color attribute information at each coordinate position on the display image is used as a condition for presenting the tactile information. Here, the color attribute information is, for example, information indicating a color attribute using a scale of hue, lightness, and saturation in the modified Munsell color space.

In the next step 106, the coordinates of the cursor on the display image are detected, and the routine proceeds to step 108,
The color attribute information in the cursor pointing unit in the display image is captured.

In the next step 110, as the condition for presenting the tactile information, the color attribute information of the target for presenting the tactile sense read and set in the above step 104 matches the color attribute information in the cursor pointing portion in the display image. It is determined whether or not. If an affirmative determination is made in step 110, it means that the image has entered the image area where tactile sensation presentation should be started, so the process proceeds to step 112, and it is determined whether or not the tactile sensation presentation operation has been stopped. In the case of an affirmative determination in step 112, the process proceeds to step 114, in which a device control signal is output to drive the tactile sense presenting means. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 114, it means that the tactile sensation is currently being presented, so the process returns to step 100, and thereafter, the above processing is repeated.

On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 110, the cursor coordinates have not yet entered the image area in which tactile sensation should be presented or have fallen out of the area in which tactile sensation should be presented. Then, it is determined whether or not the operation of presenting the tactile information is being performed. In the case of an affirmative determination in step 116, it is necessary to stop the presentation of the tactile information, so the process proceeds to step 118, in which a device control signal is output to stop driving the tactile presentation means.
On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 116, the process returns to step 100, and thereafter, the above processing is repeated.

According to the above processing, when the color attribute information of the image portion indicated by the cursor of the pointing device operated by the user matches the color attribute information set as the tactile presentation condition in advance, the tactile sensation is presented to the user. The tactile information can be presented by the means.

That is, in the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the tactile information calculation means 44 acquires from the display information storage means 42 in order to present the user with predetermined tactile information as a direct contact tactile stimulus. The calculation is performed based on the color attribute information included in the display information, and control signals are sequentially output to the control means 46. Further, the control means 46 receives the control signal from the tactile information calculation means 44 and outputs a drive signal generated by calculating the displacement, vibration frequency or control gain to be applied to the tactile sense presentation means 24. .
Further, the drive signal is transmitted to the drive unit 54 via the A / D converter 52 and the drive circuit of the drive control circuit unit 50, so that the tactile sense presenting unit 24 is driven. At this time, the displacement of the driving means 56 for presenting the tactile information by the stimulus presenting unit 60 is sequentially detected by the position sensor 58,
By being transmitted to the control unit 25, feedback control is performed, and appropriate drive control of the tactile sense presentation unit 54 can be performed.

Next, a specific example of the tactile sensation presentation of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In the information processing apparatus 10A in which the display 18A and the above-described input device 62A are connected to the apparatus main body 90, the CPU mounted inside the apparatus main body 90 executes the processing routine shown in FIG. .
In the processing routine of FIG. 6, the same parts as those of the processing routine shown in FIG.

When the system of the information processing apparatus 10A is operating and the system is activated or when the setting of the condition for presenting the tactile information is changed, step 200 is executed.
Then, color attribute information used as a condition for presenting predetermined tactile information is read. The color attribute information to be read here is a change amount of a color attribute (hue, lightness, saturation) value corresponding to each image portion at a coordinate position before and after the cursor is moved. This is a value calculated as a difference. The minimum values of the calculated hue difference, lightness difference, and saturation difference are predetermined as predetermined values, and are used as conditions for presenting tactile information.

In the next step 202, the coordinates of the moved cursor are constantly detected and stored in the main memory 14 or the like, and the cursor is moved and updated to the latest coordinate value after the movement.

In the next step 204, the amount of change in brightness among the color attribute values corresponding to each image portion at the coordinate positions before and after the cursor movement is calculated. In the next step 206,
It is determined whether or not the brightness difference read in step 200 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

If a negative determination is made in step 206, the process proceeds to step 208, in which the amount of change in hue among the color attribute values corresponding to each image portion at the coordinate position before and after the movement of the cursor is calculated. , The above step 200
Then, it is determined whether or not the value is equal to or more than a predetermined value of the hue difference read in.

If a negative determination is made in step 210, the process proceeds to step 212, in which the amount of change in saturation among the color attribute values corresponding to each image portion at the coordinate position before and after the movement of the cursor is calculated. Then, the above step 200
It is determined whether or not the color difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value for the saturation difference.

If a negative determination is made in step 214, 3
Since the amount of change in lightness, hue, and saturation of the color attribute value of each kind is not more than a predetermined value, the cursor is not present in the image area where tactile sensation is to be presented or is out of the area where tactile sensation is to be presented. In step 118, a device control signal is output to stop driving the tactile sense presenting means.

On the other hand, steps 206, 210, 2
In the case of an affirmative determination in any of the fourteen cases, the cursor has entered the image area where tactile sensation presentation should be started, so that in step 212, a device control signal is output to drive the tactile sensation presentation means.

When the tactile sense presenting means is driven to present the tactile information to the user, the stimulus presenting unit 60A (see FIG. 5) of the input device 62A corresponds to the X and Y movement directions of the cursor. And recoil. Thereby, the user can sense the tactile information by placing the finger on the stimulus presenting unit 60A forming the click unit.

Here, a specific example in which tactile information is presented according to the display image by the above-described processing will be described.

In the modified Munsell color space as shown in FIG. 5, the background 92 is yellow with 5Y, the petals 96 are reddish purple with 7.5 RP, the leaves are yellow-green with 10GY, and all have the same hue. In the case of a flower image that is a lightness value,
By moving the cursor between the elements of the flower (background, petals, leaves), a change in hue in the color attribute information at the cursor coordinates can be detected, and tactile information can be presented.

That is, if the amount of change in hue calculated in step 208 of the processing routine shown in FIG. 6 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, as determined in step 210, each element of the flower (background, petals, leaves) ), The tactile information can be presented.

Therefore, the user can recognize the unevenness and contour of each element of the flower (background, petals, leaves) by the tactile information.

Next, another specific example in which tactile information is presented according to a display image will be described.

In a home page published on the Internet as shown in FIG. 7, the display color of the text constituting the document is black, and the text to which the link is set is usually set (for the sake of convenience, the text is underlined). There are many blue characters instead of black characters. That is,
As shown in FIG. 8, in the text on the homepage shown in FIG. 7, text regions R1, R in which links are set
2, R3 is usually displayed in blue text on a white background. Thus, by applying the information processing device 10 according to the present embodiment, the text regions R1 to
When the cursor enters R3, a change in hue in the color attribute information at the cursor coordinate position (here, a change from white to blue) is detected, and a tactile sensation providing unit applies a tactile stimulus to the user. be able to. That is, when the change amount of the hue calculated in step 208 of the processing routine shown in FIG. 6 is equal to or more than the predetermined value, as determined in step 210, the difference between the normal text and the text to which the link is set is determined. The tactile information can be presented by identifying the difference in hue between the display colors. This allows
The user can detect the text to which the link is set from the tactile information.

The information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment
By applying 0, by setting so that tactile information is not output in a text area that is a normal black character on a white background, a text with a link and a text without a link are identified by the tactile information. can do. It is also possible to output different tactile information depending on the color of the character. For example, instead of changing the color of the text to which the link is set to blue, the color of the text in the text area R3 to which the link to the contact or the like is set may be changed. It can be set to output red and output tactile information different from the case where the character color is blue.

Next, another specific example in which tactile information is presented according to a display image will be described.

In the image of the plate 98 having a hole as shown in FIG. 9, the hole portion 98A and the plate portion 98B have a lightness difference of a predetermined value or more in the color attribute information, and Is smaller than the predetermined value.

In the case of such an image, when the cursor is moved on the image of the board 98 by applying the information processing apparatus 10A according to the present embodiment, the hole 9
When the cursor moves between 8A and the plate portion 98B,
Since it is determined in step 206 that the change in brightness calculated in step 204 of the processing routine shown in FIG. 6 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, tactile information is presented. on the other hand,
When the cursor moves only on the plate portion 98A or only on the hole portion 98B, the amount of change in brightness calculated in step 204 of the processing routine shown in FIG.
Therefore, since it is determined that the value is not equal to or more than the predetermined value, the tactile information is not presented, and the user can recognize the unevenness of the plate 98 without using the visual information.

With the above-described processing, every time the cursor of the pointing device operated by the user moves, the calculation is performed based on the difference between the lightness, hue, and saturation, which are the color attribute values of the image portion at the respective cursor coordinate positions before and after the movement. Accordingly, by determining whether or not to present the tactile information, the tactile information can be presented to the user in real time.

In the present processing routine, whether or not tactile information is presented is determined by calculation based on the amount of change in each color attribute value at the coordinate position before and after the movement of the cursor, but is not limited to this. No, the calculation based on the absolute value of the color attribute of the image part at the cursor coordinate position,
It may be determined whether to present the tactile information.

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the haptic sense is obtained by the calculation based on the color attribute information including the hue and the saturation, instead of the information on only the brightness such as the gray scale as in the related art. Since the information is presented, there is no need to intentionally convert to grayscale to generate the tactile information, and the amount of visual (image) information used to calculate the tactile information can be significantly increased. Thus, it is possible to present various and highly flexible tactile information and set presentation conditions.

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the image displayed on the display, obtain the color attribute information of the portion specified by the pointing means,
The tactile information is presented when the acquired color attribute information matches the color attribute information to be presented with the tactile information, which is stored in the storage means in advance, so that the tactile information is based on the color attribute information of the image. Has an excellent effect of being able to provide an information processing device capable of presenting the information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration in which main components of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention are classified into functional blocks;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration of an example of an input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation outline of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for describing a specific example of tactile sensation presentation of the information processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process flow of a specific example of the presentation of a tactile sensation of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining another example of a display image according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for describing in detail the display image information shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining another example of a display image according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information processing apparatus 12 CPU 14 Main memory 18 Display 22 Pointing device 22A Mouse part 24 Tactile presentation means 42 Display information storage means 44 Tactile information calculation means 46 Control means 56 Driving means 60 Stimulation presentation part

Claims (10)

[Claims] A display for displaying an image; a pointing device for indicating a part of the image displayed on the display; a tactile presentation device for presenting tactile information to an operator; and a tactile information to be presented. A storage unit for storing color attribute information of the image unit in advance; and when the color attribute information of the image unit specified by the pointing unit matches the color attribute information stored in the storage unit, Control means for controlling the tactile sensation providing means so as to present tactile information. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores in advance a plurality of pieces of color attribute information of an image portion to which the tactile information is to be presented, and different tactile information corresponding to each of the color attribute information. Item 10. The information processing apparatus according to Item 1. 3. The control unit performs tactile presentation by the tactile presentation unit when the color attribute information of the image section designated by the pointing unit does not match the color attribute information stored in the storage unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein there is no information processing apparatus. 4. A display for displaying an image, a pointing means for indicating a part of the image displayed on the display, a tactile presentation means for presenting tactile information to an operator, and the tactile information to be presented. A storage unit that stores in advance the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image unit; a change amount of the color attribute information of the image unit specified by the pointing unit; and a change amount of the color attribute information stored in the storage unit. And a control means for controlling the tactile sensation providing means. 5. The storage unit stores in advance a change amount of a plurality of pieces of color attribute information of an image portion to which the tactile information is to be presented and different tactile information corresponding to each of the change amounts of the color attribute information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein: 6. The control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit presents the tactile information when the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image section specified by the pointing unit is equal to or more than a predetermined amount.
Or the information processing device according to 5. 7. The control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit does not perform the tactile presentation by the tactile presentation unit when the amount of change in the color attribute information of the image section specified by the pointing unit is less than a predetermined value. The information processing device according to claim 6. 8. The color attribute information according to claim 1, wherein the color attribute information is an attribute value obtained by combining at least one of hue and saturation, or a combination of lightness and at least one of hue and saturation. 8. The information processing device according to any one of items 7 to 7. 9. The tactile sensation presenting means includes a placing member having a placing surface on which an operator places a finger, and the placing member is provided with the control means in a horizontal direction with respect to the placing surface. The tactile information is presented to the operator by being reciprocated by the method described in any one of claims 1 to 8.
The information processing device according to item. 10. The pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the pointing device is a mouse-type input device for moving a cursor, and the tactile sensation providing device is disposed in a part of a housing of the input device. Item 10. The information processing apparatus according to any one of items 9.