Information processing device, operation input method and operation input program

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a contact detection unit configured to detect a contact operation for an operation surface;

an approach detection unit configured to detect an approach operation for the operation surface; and

a control unit configured to control:

recognizing the detected approach operation as a respective operation input and issuing a respective command corresponding thereto, and

recognizing the detected approach operation and the detected contact operation as a related operation input when the detected contact operation is detected within a predetermined time after detection of the approach operation and issuing a combination command corresponding thereto to cause another operation to be executed which is different from each of (i) a first operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected contact operation individually and (ii) a second operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected approach operation individually, the first operation being different from the second operation,

wherein the combination command causes the another operation to be executed, in response to a combination of user operations.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control recognizing the detected contact operation and the detected approach operation as individual operation inputs when the contact operation and the approach operation are continuously detected after exceeding the predetermined time.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control:

execution of a predetermined process based on a predetermined contact operation detected by the contact detection unit, and

continuing to execute the predetermined process when the approach detection unit detects another approach operation within a predetermined time from the detection of the predetermined contact operation.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the another approach operation is an operation for separating an indicator from the operation surface and stopping the indicator after the contact operation.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control:

execution of a predetermined process based on predetermined motion of the contact operation detected by the contact detection unit, and

executing the predetermined process using a parameter different from a parameter used upon execution based on the contact operation when the approach detection unit detects a predetermined motion of the approach operation within a predetermined time from the detection of the predetermined contact operation.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, when the contact detection unit detects the contact operation within a predetermined time after the approach detection unit detects an approach operation for moving an indicator in a certain direction, the control unit is configured to execute control based on the certain direction and the contact operation.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, when the approach detection unit detects the approach operation within a predetermined range from a contact position within a predetermined time after the contact detection unit detects the contact operation, the control unit is configured to control recognizing the contact operation and the approach operation as a series of operation inputs.

8. The information processing apparatus of claim 1 , in which the contact operation is detected from at least one available contact operation including at least one of a contact pinch-in or a contact pinch-out input and the approach operation is detected from at least one available approach operation including at least one of approach pinch-in input, approach pinch-out or approach shuffle.

9. The information processing apparatus of claim 8 ,

wherein, when the approach shuffle is detected within the predetermined time after detecting the contact pinch-in or the contact pinch-out, the combination command causes a display scaling factor of an image to return to a previous value, and

when the approach shuffle is detected after the predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the contact pinch-in or the contact pinch-out input, the approach shuffle is considered to be independent of the detected contact pinch-in or contact pinch-out such that a previous image is displayed instead of a current image.

10. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a contact detection unit configured to detect a contact operation for an operation surface;

an approach detection unit configured to detect an approach operation for the operation surface; and

a control unit configured to control:

recognizing the detected approach operation as a respective operation input and issuing a respective command corresponding thereto,

recognizing the detected approach operation and the detected contact operation as a related operation input when the detected contact operation is detected within a predetermined time after detection of the approach operation and issuing a combination command corresponding thereto to cause another operation to be executed which is different from that of the detected contact operation or the detected approach operation,

recognizing the detected contact operation and the detected approach operation as individual operation inputs when the contact operation and the approach operation are continuously detected after exceeding the predetermined time,

execution of a predetermined process based on a predetermined contact operation detected by the contact detection unit, and

a process of restoring to a state before the execution of the predetermined process when the approach detection unit detects a predetermined approach operation within a predetermined time from the detection of the predetermined contact operation,

wherein the combination command causes the another operation to be executed, in response to a combination of user operations.

11. An information processing method comprising:

detecting a contact operation for an operation surface;

detecting an approach operation for the operation surface;

recognizing the detected approach operation as a respective operation input and issuing a respective command corresponding thereto; and

recognizing the detected approach operation and the detected contact operation as a related operation input when the detected contact operation is detected within a predetermined time after detection of the approach operation and issuing a combination command corresponding thereto to cause another operation to be executed which is different from each of (i) a first operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected contact operation individually and (ii) a second operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected approach operation individually, the first operation being different from the second operation,

wherein the combination command causes the another operation to be executed, in response to a combination of user operations.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store a program, the program comprising:

detecting a contact operation for an operation surface;

detecting an approach operation for the operation surface;

recognizing the detected approach operation as a respective operation input and issuing a respective command corresponding thereto; and

recognizing the detected approach operation and the detected contact operation as a related operation input when the detected contact operation is detected within a predetermined time after detection of the approach operation and issuing a combination command corresponding thereto to cause another operation to be executed which is different from each of (i) a first operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected contact operation individually and (ii) a second operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected approach operation individually, the first operation being different from the second operation, wherein the combination command causes the another operation to be executed, in response to a combination of user operations.

13. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a contact detection unit configured to detect a contact operation for an operation surface;

an approach detection unit configured to detect an approach operation for the operation surface; and

a control unit configured to control:

recognizing the detected approach operation as a respective operation input and issuing a respective command corresponding thereto, and

recognizing the detected approach operation and the detected contact operation as a related operation input when a determination is the detected contact operation and the detected approach operation are continuously detected within a predetermined time of each other and issuing a combination command corresponding thereto to cause another operation to be executed which is different from each of (i) a first operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected contact operation individually and (ii) a second operation which would be executed in response to recognition of the detected approach operation individually, the first operation being different from the second operation,

wherein the combination command causes the another operation to be executed, in response to a combination of user operations.

14. The information processing apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the detected approach operation and the detected contact operation are recognized as the related operation input when the determination is the detected contact operation and a movement approach operation as the detected approach operation are continuously detected within the predetermined time of each other.