JP7727697B2 - Information processing device, cursor control method, and cursor control program - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to an information processing device, a cursor control method, and a cursor control program.

Information processing devices are equipped with a multi-display function that allows display on multiple displays, and their use has been increasing in recent years.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-89891

When working in the multi-display environment described above or using a large screen, if you click a link or launch an application from the taskbar, the window of the launched application may appear in a location far from the mouse cursor.
For example, when working in a multi-display environment with a first display on the left and a second display on the right, clicking a link on the second display may launch the linked application and display a window on the first display. In this case, the user must move the mouse cursor significantly from the second display to the window displayed on the first display in order to operate the launched application, resulting in a poor user experience. This problem, i.e., having to move the mouse cursor significantly when a new window is launched, is not limited to multi-display environments; it also occurs when using a single large-screen display.

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide an information processing device, cursor control method, and cursor control program that can improve the user experience regarding cursor movement.

One aspect of the present invention is an information processing device that includes an area display control unit that displays multiple areas related to mouse cursor movement on a display screen when predetermined display conditions are met, and a cursor control unit that, when the mouse cursor enters one of the areas, moves the mouse cursor into another of the areas or to the vicinity of another of the areas.

One aspect of the present invention is a cursor control method in which a computer executes the following processes: when predetermined display conditions are met, a process of displaying multiple areas related to mouse cursor movement on a display screen; and when the mouse cursor enters one of the areas, a process of moving the mouse cursor into or near another of the areas.

One aspect of the present invention is a cursor control program for causing a computer to function as the information processing device described above.

The present invention has the effect of improving the user experience regarding cursor movement.

1 is a schematic external view of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of functions provided in an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a plurality of regions according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating the movement of a mouse cursor using multiple regions according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating the movement of a mouse cursor using multiple regions according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a cursor control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic external view of a computer system according to another aspect of the present invention.

An embodiment of an information processing device, cursor control method, and cursor control program according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiment, a desktop PC will be used as an example of the information processing device 10.

Figure 1 is a schematic external view of a computer system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the computer system 1 includes an information processing device 10, multiple displays 15 (15a, 15b), an input device 16, and the like. The information processing device 10 has, for example, a multi-display function that displays on multiple displays 15. While Figure 1 illustrates an example in which two displays 15 are connected to the information processing device 10, the number of displays 15 is not limited to this. Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish between displays 15a and 15b, they will be referred to as displays 15a and 15a, and when there is no need to distinguish between them, they will be simply referred to as displays 15.

The display 15 has a display screen configured, for example, by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), organic EL (Electro Luminescence), or the like, and displays the results of application software programs executed by the information processing device 10.

The input device 16 is a user interface that allows the user to give instructions to the information processing device 10. Examples of the input device 16 include a pointing device such as a mouse or touchpad, a keyboard, etc.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, the information processing device 10 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit: processor) 11, a main memory 12, a secondary storage 13, a communication interface 14, and an external interface 18. These components are interconnected directly or indirectly via a bus 19 and work together to execute various processes.

The CPU 11 controls the entire information processing device 10 using, for example, an OS (Operating System) stored in a secondary storage device 13 connected via a bus 19, and performs various processes by executing various programs stored in the secondary storage device 13. There may be one or more CPUs 11, which may work together to perform various processes.

The main memory device 12 is composed of writable memory such as cache memory or RAM (Random Access Memory), and is used as a working area for reading programs executed by the CPU 11 and writing data processed by the programs.

The secondary storage device 13 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Examples of the secondary storage device 13 include a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, and semiconductor memory. Examples of the secondary storage device 13 include a ROM (Read Only Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), and flash memory. The secondary storage device 13 stores, for example, an OS for controlling the entire information processing device, such as Windows (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark), a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), various device drivers for operating peripheral devices, various application software, and various data and files. The secondary storage device 13 also stores programs for implementing various processes and various data required for implementing various processes. Multiple secondary storage devices 13 may be provided, and the above-mentioned programs and data may be stored separately in each secondary storage device 13.

The communication interface 14 functions as an interface for connecting to a network to communicate with other devices and sending and receiving information. For example, the communication interface 14 communicates with other devices via wired or wireless connections. Examples of wireless communication include communication via lines such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi, mobile communication systems (3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, LTE, etc.), and wireless LANs. An example of wired communication is communication via lines such as a wired LAN (Local Area Network).

The external interface 18 is an interface for connecting to external devices. Multiple displays 15a, 15b and input devices 16 are connected via the external interface 18. The external interface 18 is equipped with appropriate input/output terminals and interfaces depending on the connected devices, for example.

3 is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of functions provided in the information processing device 10. As shown in FIG.
The cursor control system 20 includes, for example, a region display control unit 21 , a cursor control unit 22 , and a highlighting unit 23 .

The series of processes required to realize the various functions of the cursor control system 20 are stored in the form of a program (cursor control program) in the secondary storage device 13, for example. The CPU (processor) 11 reads this program (application software) into the main storage device 12 and executes information processing and arithmetic operations to realize the various functions. The program may be pre-installed in the secondary storage device 13, provided in a state stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, or distributed via wired or wireless communication means. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and semiconductor memories.

When a predetermined display condition is satisfied, the region display control unit 21 displays a plurality of regions related to the movement of the mouse cursor on the display screen, where one of the plurality of regions is displayed near the mouse cursor.
The predetermined display condition is, for example, when a new window is displayed, such as when a link, task bar, new tab button, or the like displayed on the display 15 is clicked (input operation) to start a new application and display a new window.

4, for example, when a link is clicked to display a new window Wn1, the area display control unit 21 determines whether the distance between the representative position of this window Wn1 and the representative position of the mouse cursor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. If the distance is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, the area display control unit 21 determines that the display condition is met and displays multiple areas AR1 and AR2 on the display screen.
Examples of the representative position of window Wn1 include the center position P1 of window Wn1 and the upper center part P2 of window Wn1. Furthermore, for example, the representative position of window Wn1 may be the position among the four vertices of window Wn1 that is farthest from the representative position of the mouse cursor. The representative position of a window may be set as appropriate depending on the operation, etc.
Examples of the representative position of the mouse cursor include the center position and the tip position of the mouse cursor.

The fact that new window Wn1 has been displayed, in other words, the occurrence of an event that launches new window Wn1, information about each window, and information about the mouse cursor can be obtained from the OS. Window information includes, for example, application identification information and information about the window's position (e.g., coordinates, size, etc.). Mouse cursor information includes the coordinates of the mouse cursor. The coordinates are defined, for example, in a screen coordinate system managed by the OS.

The display conditions for displaying multiple areas AR1 and AR2 are not limited to the above example. For example, when window Wn1 is displayed, it may be determined whether the display on which window Wn1 is displayed is different from the display on which the mouse cursor is displayed, and if the two are different, it may be determined that the display conditions are met, and multiple areas AR1 and AR2 may be displayed on the display screen.

The area display control unit 21, for example, displays one area (hereinafter referred to as the "first area") AR1 near the mouse cursor, and displays another area (hereinafter referred to as the "second area") AR2 on the display 15b where the new window Wn1 is displayed. More specifically, the second area AR2 is displayed within the newly displayed window Wn1. Furthermore, the second area AR2 may be positioned within the window Wn1 near the area where input operations are primarily performed.

For example, in the case of a web browser, tabs and search windows are often located at the top of the window, so the second area AR2 may be displayed at the top of window Wn1, as shown in FIG. 4. The location where input operations are primarily performed varies depending on the application. For this reason, for example, the area display control unit 21 may have in advance display position information that associates application identification information with position information for displaying the second area AR2 in the application's window, and may determine the display position of the second area AR2 based on this display position information and application information related to window Wn1.

Furthermore, the region display control unit 21 hides the regions AR1 and AR2 when a predetermined non-display condition is met.
The non-display conditions may include, for example, at least one of the following: (i) when a predetermined time has elapsed since multiple areas AR1 and AR2 were displayed; (ii) when a predetermined time has elapsed since the mouse cursor was moved using areas AR1 and AR2; (iii) when the mouse cursor has moved a predetermined distance or more away from the nearest area; and (iv) when the user has performed an input operation other than cursor movement.

When the mouse cursor enters one of the areas AR1 (AR2), the cursor control unit 22 moves the mouse cursor into the other area AR2 (AR1). For example, as shown in Fig. 5, when the user moves the mouse cursor and it enters area AR1, the cursor control unit 22 moves the mouse cursor into the second area AR2, as shown in Fig. 6. Similarly, when the mouse cursor enters the second area AR2, the cursor control unit 22 moves the mouse cursor into the first area AR1.
This allows the user to easily move the mouse cursor between the first area AR1 and the second area AR2 by simply moving the mouse cursor slightly.
The destination of the mouse cursor is not limited to the area of the destination, but may be displayed near the area of the destination, for example.

The highlighting unit 23 highlights the mouse cursor after it has been moved using the first area AR1 or the second area AR2. This makes it easier for the user to find the mouse cursor after it has been moved, preventing a decrease in work efficiency due to the user losing track of the mouse cursor. Examples of highlighting include blinking the mouse cursor, temporarily increasing the size of the mouse cursor, or changing the color of the area around the mouse cursor from the color of the rest of the mouse cursor.

Next, a cursor control method executed by the cursor control system 20 included in the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the cursor control method according to this embodiment. For ease of explanation, the explanation will be given here using an example in which the cursor control method is used in a multi-display environment. Furthermore, the cursor control method described below is executed repeatedly at predetermined time intervals, for example.

First, the information processing device 10 determines whether a new window Wn1 has been displayed by, for example, launching an application (SA1). If the result is that window Wn1 is not displayed (SA1: NO), the process ends. On the other hand, if window Wn1 is displayed (SA1: YES), the distance between the representative position of window Wn1 and the representative position of the mouse cursor is calculated (SA2). For example, information about window Wn1 (e.g., the coordinates and size of window Wn1 in the screen coordinate system) is obtained from the OS based on the identification information of the launched application, and the representative position of window Wn1 (e.g., center coordinates) is calculated based on the obtained information. Next, the distance between the coordinates of the representative position of window Wn1 in the screen coordinate system and the coordinates of the representative position of the mouse cursor is calculated.

Next, it is determined whether the calculated distance is greater than or equal to a threshold value (SA3). As a result, if the distance between the two is not greater than or equal to the threshold value (SA3: NO), this process ends. On the other hand, if the distance between the two is greater than or equal to the threshold value (SA3: YES), the first area AR1 and the second area AR2 are displayed (SA4). For example, the first area AR1 is displayed on the display where the mouse cursor is displayed, and the second area AR2 is displayed on the display where window Wn1 is displayed (SA4). More specifically, the first area AR1 is displayed near the position where the mouse cursor is displayed, and the second area AR2 is displayed within window Wn1.

Next, it is determined whether the mouse cursor has entered the first area AR1 or the second area AR2 (SA5). If the result shows that the mouse cursor is in either area (SA5: YES), the mouse cursor is moved to the other area (SA6). For example, if the mouse cursor is in the first area AR1, the mouse cursor is moved into the second area AR2, and if the mouse cursor is in the second area AR2, the mouse cursor is moved into the first area AR1. Next, the moved mouse cursor is highlighted (SA7), and the process proceeds to step SA8.
On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is not in any of the areas in step SA5 (SA5: NO), the process proceeds to step SA8, where it is determined whether the non-display condition is met (SA8). If the non-display condition is not met (SA8: NO), the process returns to step SA5.
On the other hand, if the non-display condition is met in step SA8 (SA8: YES), the first area AR1 and the second area AR2 are hidden (SA9), and the process ends.

As described above, this embodiment includes an area display control unit 21 that displays multiple areas related to the movement of the mouse cursor on the display screen when predetermined display conditions are met, and a cursor control unit 22 that moves the mouse cursor into another area when the mouse cursor enters one of the areas.
This allows the user to easily move the mouse cursor to one of the areas by performing an input operation to move the mouse cursor to the other area, thereby improving the user experience regarding cursor movement.

In particular, when working in a multi-display environment, if a user performs a click or other operation to launch a new application and that window is displayed away from the mouse cursor, for example, on a different display, a first area AR1 is displayed near the mouse cursor, and a second area AR2 is displayed within the newly displayed window. This allows the user to move the mouse cursor onto the new window simply by performing an input operation to move the mouse cursor into first area AR1. Furthermore, since the mouse cursor is highlighted after the move, the user can smoothly perform subsequent input tasks without losing track of the mouse cursor.

The present invention has been described above using embodiments, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and such modifications and improvements are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Furthermore, the processing procedures described in the above embodiments are merely examples, and unnecessary steps may be deleted, new steps may be added, or the processing order may be rearranged, without departing from the spirit of this disclosure.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, when a new window is displayed, such as when an application is launched, two areas consisting of a first area AR1 and a second area AR2 are displayed, but the number of areas is not limited to this example. For example, three or more areas may be displayed. In this case, for example, the direction of movement of the mouse cursor until it moves into one of the areas may be taken into consideration, and the mouse cursor may be moved to another area displayed ahead of the direction of movement of the mouse cursor.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, one of the display conditions is when a new window is displayed, but this is not limited to this. For example, one of the display conditions may also be when the active window is switched by a user input operation, etc. In this case, for example, multiple areas AR1 and AR2 may be displayed when the distance between the representative position of the newly active window and the representative position of the mouse cursor is equal to or greater than a threshold. Furthermore, multiple areas AR1 and AR2 may be displayed when the newly active window is displayed on a display different from the display on which the mouse cursor is displayed.

Furthermore, while the above-described embodiment has been described assuming work in a multi-display environment, this is not limited to this example. For example, even when working using a single display, if a new window or the like is displayed, the first area AR1 and the second area AR2 may be displayed on the same display.

In addition, in the above embodiment, a desktop PC was used as an example of the information processing device 10, but this is not limiting. For example, the information processing device 10 may be a notebook PC, a tablet terminal, a hybrid PC, etc. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the information processing device 10 may be equipped with a display 15a and an input device 16. In other words, some of the devices that were connected as external devices in FIG. 2 may be equipped on the information processing device 10.

1: Computer system 10: Information processing device 11: CPU
12: Main storage device 13: Secondary storage device 14: Communication interface 15: Display 15a: Display 15b: Display 16: Input device 18: External interface 19: Bus 20: Cursor control system 21: Area display control unit 22: Cursor control unit 23: Highlighting unit

Claims (9)

an area display control unit that displays a plurality of areas related to the movement of the mouse cursor on the display screen when a predetermined display condition is satisfied;
a cursor control unit that, when a mouse cursor enters one of the areas, moves the mouse cursor into or near another of the areas , and one of the areas is displayed near the mouse cursor ;
An information processing device comprising: The information processing device of claim 1, wherein the display condition includes when a new window is displayed. The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a highlighting unit that highlights the mouse cursor when it is moved within or near another of the areas. the region display control unit hides the plurality of regions when a predetermined hide condition is satisfied,
2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the non-display conditions include at least one of the following: when a predetermined time has elapsed since the display of the plurality of areas; when a predetermined time has elapsed since the mouse cursor was moved using the areas; and when the mouse cursor is moved a predetermined distance or more away from the nearest area. It has a multi-display function that displays on multiple displays,
the plurality of regions include a first region and a second region,
2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein, when a new window is displayed, the area display control unit causes the first area to be displayed on the display on which the mouse cursor is displayed, and the second area to be displayed on the display on which the new window is displayed. 6. The information processing device according to claim 5, wherein the area display control unit, when a new window is displayed, determines whether the distance between the representative position of the new window and the mouse cursor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and if the distance is equal to or greater than the threshold, determines that the display condition is met and displays the first area and the second area. In a multi-display environment where multiple displays are used,
6. The information processing device according to claim 5, wherein the area display control unit displays the first area and the second area when a new window is displayed and the display on which the mouse cursor is displayed is different from the display on which the new window is displayed. a process of displaying a plurality of areas relating to the movement of the mouse cursor on the display screen when a predetermined display condition is satisfied;
When the mouse cursor enters one of the areas, the process of moving the mouse cursor into or near another of the areas;
and wherein any one of the areas is displayed in the vicinity of the mouse cursor . A cursor control program for causing a computer to function as the information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 .