JPH0358214A - Pointing data input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To move a cursor on a screen with scarcely separating a finger from a keyboard when performing input by controlling the output of the amount of travel of the cursor by using a signal outputted from a cursor travel amount calculation means and a signal outputted from a permission signal input means. CONSTITUTION:An adduction/abduction angle detecting part 11 measures and detects deflection angles in adduction and abduction direction of the joint of a user, and a deflection angle defecting part 12 detects the amount of deflection angle of the finger being bent in a direction to grasp an article with the finger of the hand. A cursor travel amount calculation part 14 inputs adduction/ abduction angle data 111 and deflection data 121, and outputs travel amount data 141 in a horizontal direction and travel amount data 142 in a vertical direction. A permission signal input part 13 detects information to permit the travel of the cursor, and outputs a permission signal 131. An output control part 15 inputs the travel amount data in horizontal and vertical directions, and controls the output of the amount of travel of the cursor. In such a way, it is possible to travel the cursor with scarcely separating the finger from the keyboard when performing the input of a text.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a pointing data input device that moves a cursor by directly detecting the movements of one or more joints of a user in pointing data input work. ．． [Prior Art] In recent years, work using computers including screens has tended to handle various types of data. In particular, when programming or drawing in a multi-window environment, pointing data is used for window selection and drawing, and text data is used for inputting character strings. Traditionally, pointing data was input using a mouse, trackball, dial, joystick, etc., and text data was input using a keyboard. [Problem to be Solved by the Invention] The problem to be solved by the present invention is that in order to work efficiently in programming and drawing, it is necessary to be able to transition smoothly between input devices. Conventional pointing data input devices (hereinafter referred to as mice), such as trackballs, are placed at a distance from text data input devices, such as keyboards. In order to change the window, you have to take your hand off the keyboard, reach for the mouse, grab the mouse, and move it a lot, which reduces work efficiency. Data input devices have the disadvantage that input is made through a medium such as a mouse or a trackball, which makes it feel strange compared to the everyday action of pointing at an object.

It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to move a cursor on the screen while inputting text without leaving the keyboard with a single move, and also to make it possible to perform pointing using gestures that are commonly performed on a daily basis. An object of the present invention is to provide a pointing data input device.

[Means to solve the problem]

The pointing data input device of the present invention is a pointing data input device for inputting pointing data for moving a cursor on the screen to a calculator including a display screen, and the pointing data input device inputs pointing data for moving a cursor on the screen to a calculator including a display screen. an adduction-abduction angle detection means for measuring and detecting a bending angle in a bending direction; a flexion angle detecting means for measuring and detecting a bending angle in a bending direction of some and a plurality of joints of a user; A value corresponding to the bending angle output from the detection means,
cursor movement amount calculation means for inputting a value corresponding to the bending angle outputted from the bending angle detection means, and calculating and outputting the horizontal movement amount and vertical movement amount of the cursor on the screen; and cursor movement. a permission signal input means for inputting permission for the cursor, and an output control for controlling the output of the cursor movement amount using the signal output from the cursor movement amount calculation means and the signal output from the permission signal input means. He is prepared with the means and is given the precepts.

[Operation] The present invention provides an adduction-abduction angle detection means for detecting the adduction-abduction angle of some and a plurality of joints of a user, a flexion angle detection means for detecting a bending angle, and a bending angle There is a force-sor movement amount calculation means that calculates the cursor movement amount from the cursor movement amount. Here, examples of adduction/abduction and flexion of the finger joints are shown in Figures 10 (a) and (b).
Explanatory diagrams of examples of abduction and flexion are shown in Figures 10 (C) and (d). By doing this, it becomes possible to measure the bending angle of multiple joints in real time and calculate the amount of cursor movement and its direction according to the bending angle, making it possible to avoid touching media such as a mouse or trackball. This allows you to move the cursor on the screen without any hassle.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, there are permission signal input means for inputting permission for cursor movement, and output control means for controlling output of the amount of movement of the cursor. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the cursor from moving due to unnecessary joint movements.

Further, according to the present invention, cursor movement amount correction is performed to correct the movement amount in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction in cursor movement using the direction detection means that detects the direction vectors of some and a plurality of joints and the direction vectors. There are means. By doing this, even if the joint orientation changes, it is possible to correctly calculate the amount of movement in the pointing direction as seen from the reference user and move the cursor. [Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the pointing data input device of the present invention. Here, we will explain using an example of performing pointing from the joints of the fingers of the hand.
Pointing by movement of one or more joints in the body, such as wrist joints, arm joints, ankle joints, and neck joints, can also be performed in the same manner as described below.

The adduction/abduction angle detection unit 11 detects the amount of adduction angle in which the fingers of the hand are bent inward or twisted inward and the amount of abduction angle bent or twisted outward in the direction in which the fingers are lined up. Abduction angle data 111 is output. The bending angle detection section 12 is
When the fingers of the hand are bent in the direction of grasping an object, the amount of bending angle of the fingers is detected, and bending angle data 121 is output. The cursor movement amount calculation unit 14 inputs the adduction-abduction angle data 111 output from the adduction-abduction angle detection unit 11 and the flexion data 121 output from the flexion angle detection unit 12, and calculates the angle data from the input angle data. The amount of movement is calculated, the vectors in the adduction-abduction direction and the bending direction are corrected to the XY orthogonal coordinate system, and horizontal movement amount data 141 and vertical movement amount data 142 are output. The permission signal input unit 13 detects information for permission to move the cursor, and outputs a permission signal 131.
Outputs . The output control unit 15 inputs the vertical movement data 142 of the horizontal movement data 141 output from the cursor movement amount calculation unit 14 and the permission signal 131 output from the permission signal input unit 15, and receives the permission signal. Output control that outputs the input horizontal movement data and vertical movement data as they are as horizontal movement data 151 and vertical movement data 152 if it is on, and outputs nothing if it is off. I do. Furthermore, the structure of a second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.

The direction detection unit 16 detects the direction of the back of the hand and outputs direction vector data 161. The cursor movement amount correction section 17 uses the direction vector data 1 output from the direction detection section 16.
61 is used to output correction data 171 regarding the direction and amount of movement in consideration of the direction of the back of the hand in order to match the direction of the screen with the direction of finger movement. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the adduction-abduction angle data 111 and the bending angle data 121 can be input to the output control section 15 before being input to the cursor movement amount calculation section 14. It is. If a positive signal is not output from the permission signal input section 13, the cursor movement amount calculation section 1
Since no data is input into step 4, it is possible to reduce the calculation load. Furthermore, by using a plurality of adduction-abduction angle detection sections 11 and bending angle detection sections 12, it is also possible to move the force-sole.

Next, an embodiment will be described in which the present invention is used to move the force-sol by pointing with the index finger of the hand during programming work. The method described below also describes pointing work that involves movement of one or more joints in the body, such as the fingers after the index finger, wrist joints, arm joints, foot joints, ankle joints, neck joints, etc. This is possible in a similar way.

As a first example of the adduction-abduction angle detection unit 11 or the bending angle detection unit 12, a light emitting element 52 and a light receiving element 53 are attached to each end point of an optical fiber 51, as shown in FIG. 5(a).
Attach the items shown in . L as the light emitting element 52
An ED, a laser, or the like is used, and a phototransistor or the like is used as the light receiving element 53. The optical fiber 51 is attached by a mounting tool 54 to a location where the adduction/abduction angle can be detected or a location where the bending angle can be detected. As the attachment device 54, a glove, a ring, a band, an adhesive, an adhesive tape, or the like is used. When an adduction-abduction movement or a bending movement of the finger occurs, the optical fiber 51 bends, and the light in the fiber leaks to the outside. For this reason,
The amount of light reaching the light receiving element 53 is reduced, and it is possible to output a value that reflects the bending angle. The positions of the light emitting element 52 and the light receiving element 53 may be either at the tip. Also,
As shown in FIG. 5(b), the above-mentioned function can also be realized by mirror-finishing or placing a mirror at one end point of the optical fiber 51 and placing a half mirror at the other end point. It is also possible to form the optical fiber 51 into a loop shape as shown in c).

As a second example of the adduction-abduction angle detection section 11 or the bending angle detection section 12, it is possible to use a polymer piezoelectric film 61 as shown in FIG.

As the polymeric piezoelectric film 61, a film made of polyvinidene fluoride or the like with electrodes attached is used. These films are suitable for use under external pressure, as described in a paper entitled "rPVDF: polyvinylidene fluoride" by Mr. Nakamura et al. in Solid State Physics, 1980, Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. It is known that a voltage is generated in response to distortion caused by The mounting tool 54 is attached to a location where the adduction-abduction angle can be detected or a location where the bending angle can be detected. The bending of the finger stretches the film, creating a voltage. By measuring and integrating the voltage, the bending angle can be detected.

As a third example of the adduction/abduction angle detection section 11 or the bending angle detection section 12, a mouth-tally encoder 71 as shown in FIG. 7 is used. A rotary encoder 71 is attached to the joint part using a mounting tool 54, and an arm 72 is attached to the tip of the finger.
The end points of are fixed. The rotary encoder can output the rotation angle of the arm in the form of pulses.
By counting the pulses, the bending angle can be detected.

As a fourth example of the adduction-abduction angle detection section 11 or the bending angle detection section 12, a pressure sensor 81 as shown in FIG.
It is possible to use As the finger bends, the stretching force of the band 82 becomes greater than that of the attachment device 54, which can be detected in the form of pressure by the pressure sensor 82 located between them.

As a fifth example of the adduction-abduction angle detection section 11 or the bending angle detection section 12, a variable resistor 9 as shown in FIG. 9(a) is used.
1 is used. When the finger bends, a thread-like object attached to the tip of the finger is pulled, moving the movable part of the variable resistor 91 attached to the base of the joint. 9th
The circuit shown in figure (b) allows these changes to be made by the amplifier 9.
2 is detected as a change in voltage/current. It is also possible to use a spring or the like to return the movable part to its original position once it has moved.

In addition, the adduction-abduction angle detection section 11 and the flexion angle detection section 1
2, it is also possible to combine two or more of the several implementation methods described above.

A personal computer or the like is used as the cursor movement amount calculation unit 14. The adduction-abduction angle detection section 11 and the bending angle detection section 12 convert the fixed coordinate system into a coordinate system on the screen, and convert the bending angle data output from each detection section to the cursor on the screen. The amount of movement in the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction is calculated, and if the output format is the same as that of a mouse, the amount of movement is expressed as the number of pulses.

It is assumed that a push button switch, a key on a keyboard, or the like is used as the permission signal input section 13, and a positive signal from the logic circuit is output while these are pressed.

As the output control section 15, an AND circuit including a logic circuit can be used. Each value output from the cursor movement amount calculation section 14 and the signal from the permission signal input section 13 are input to the AND circuit. It becomes possible to output a cursor movement signal only when the permission signal is a positive signal.

Furthermore, it is possible to use an acceleration sensor or a magnetic sensor as the direction detection section 16. For example, by attaching an acceleration sensor to the back of the hand and detecting the direction of gravitational acceleration, it is possible to detect the direction of the back of the hand.

A personal computer or the like is used as the cursor movement amount correction section 17. When the direction vector of the back of the hand changes and the coordinate system of the detection units 11 and 12 changes, the detection unit is added to the cursor movement amount calculation unit 14 in order to match the actual movement direction of the fingers of the hand with the coordinate system on the screen. It becomes possible to notify that the coordinate system of has changed and the direction of change, and the cursor movement amount calculation unit 14 can calculate a new correct cursor movement amount.

For example, the permission input section 13 is assigned to a control key on the keyboard. Since the control key is not pressed during text input, the adduction-abduction angle detection section 11 or the flexion angle detection section 12
The cursor does not move even if the index finger to which it is attached moves. When entering text in a multi-window, if the cursor is in a certain window, the text entered in that window will be displayed. Therefore, to change the window in which you enter text, you must move the cursor to that window. Moving the index finger while holding down the control key moves the force-sor and moves the cursor to a new window. Releasing the control key fixes the force-sol in that position. While selecting a window, you can enter text in the new window without ever taking your hands off the keyboard.

〔Effect of the invention〕

By using the present invention, it becomes possible to detect the bending angle of some or more joints of a user in real time, and it is possible to perform pointing using everyday motions. Furthermore, by providing a signal that allows force-based movement of the cursor, it is possible to eliminate erroneous movement of the cursor due to unnecessary bending of the joints. Additionally, the signal that allows cursor movement can be easily set, for example, as any key on the keyboard.
This has the effect of allowing you to move the cursor on the screen while entering text without having to take your hands off the keyboard.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 are block diagrams showing the structure of the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention, FIGS. 5(a) to (c), FIGS. 6 to 8,
9(a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams showing embodiments of the adduction-abduction angle detection section or the flexion angle detection section, and FIG. 10(
a) to (d) are explanatory diagrams illustrating examples of joint flexion, adduction, and abduction. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Adduction/abduction angle detection section, 12... Bending angle detection section, 13... Permission signal input section, 14... Cursor movement amount calculation section, 15... Output control section, 16. ...Direction detecting section, 17... Cursor movement correction section, 51... Optical fiber, 52... Light emitting element, 53... Light receiving element, 54... Mounting tool, 61... Polymer piezoelectric film ,
71... Rotary encoder, 72... Arm,
81...Pressure sensor 82...Band, 91...
・Variable resistor, 92...Amplifier, 111...Adduction-abduction angle data, 121...Bending angle data, 131...
- Permission signal, 141/151... horizontal movement amount data, 142/152... vertical movement amount data,
161...Direction vector data, 171...Correction data regarding movement direction and amount.

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) In a pointing data input device that inputs pointing data for moving a cursor on the screen to a calculator including a display screen, the bending angle in the adduction and abduction directions of some and multiple joints of the user is input. an adduction-abduction angle detection means for measuring and detecting an adduction-abduction angle detection means; a flexion angle detection means for measuring and detecting a bending angle in a bending direction of a part of the user's joints and a plurality of joints; a value corresponding to the bending angle,
cursor movement amount calculation means for inputting a value corresponding to the bending angle outputted from the bending angle detection means, and calculating and outputting the horizontal movement amount and vertical movement amount of the cursor on the screen; and cursor movement. a permission signal input means for inputting permission for the cursor; and an output for controlling the output of the cursor movement amount using the signal output from the cursor movement amount calculation means and the signal output from the permission signal input means. A pointing data input device comprising a control means. (2) The device according to claim (1), wherein the adduction/abduction angle detection means and the bending angle detection means are comprised of an optical fiber, a light emitting element, and a light receiving element. (3) The device according to claim (1), wherein the adduction-abduction angle detection means and the bending angle detection means are made of a polymeric piezoelectric film. (4) The device according to claim (1), wherein the adduction/abduction angle detection means and the bending angle detection means are comprised of rotary encoders. (5) Claim (1) characterized in that the adduction-abduction angle detection means and the bending angle detection means are comprised of pressure sensors.
The device described. (6) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adduction-abduction angle detection means and the bending angle detection means are comprised of a variable resistor and an amplifier for detecting the amount of change in the variable resistor. (7) Direction detection means for detecting the direction vectors of a part of the user's joints and a plurality of joints, and the amount of movement in the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction in cursor movement by inputting the direction vector data output from the direction detection means. Claim the correction data (
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising cursor movement amount correction means for outputting to the cursor movement amount calculation means described in item 1).