Information processing apparatus

Abstract

An information processing apparatus comprising: a touch panel that detects a contact operation and a contactless operation of an operation element by detecting an electrostatic capacitance of an operation surface of the touch panel; and a controller that determines whether an application activated at the information processing apparatus supports contactless operations; controls the application based only on contact operations detected at the touch panel when is determined that the application does not support contactless operations; and controls the application based on both contact operations and contactless operations detected at the touch panel when it is determined that the application supports contactless operations.

1 . An information processing apparatus comprising:
 a touch panel that detects a contact operation and a contactless operation of an operation element by detecting an electrostatic capacitance of an operation surface of the touch panel; and   a controller that
 determines whether an application activated at the information processing apparatus supports contactless operations; 
 controls the application based only on contact operations detected at the touch panel when is determined that the application does not support contactless operations; and 
 controls the application based on both contact operations and contactless operations detected at the touch panel when it is determined that the application supports contactless operations. 
   
     
     
         2 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the touch panel is a projection-type electrostatic-capacitance touch panel.   
     
     
         3 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the touch panel includes a substrate layer including an insulator film, an electrode layer arranged below the insulator film, and a control integrated circuit.   
     
     
         4 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein
 the touch panel includes a plurality of mosaic electrode patterns each including two layers of transparent electrodes in each of vertical and horizontal directions in the electrode layer.   
     
     
         5 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller increases a sensitivity of the touch panel when it is determined that the application supports contactless operations.   
     
     
         6 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller receives electrostatic capacitance values output by the touch panel and compares the electrostatic capacitance values to a first predetermined threshold value.   
     
     
         7 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein
 the controller determines that the operation received at the touch panel is a contact operation when at least one of the electrostatic capacitance values is greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold value.   
     
     
         8 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein
 the controller compares the electrostatic capacitance values to a second predetermined threshold value when none of the electrostatic capacitance values is greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold value.   
     
     
         9 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein
 the controller determines that the operation received at the touch panel is a contactless operation when at least one of the electrostatic capacitance values is greater than or equal to the second predetermined threshold value.   
     
     
         10 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein
 the controller detects two-dimensional coordinate information corresponding to positions on the touch panel at which the electrostatic capacitance values are greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold value and controls execution of a process of the application based on the two dimensional coordinate information when is determined that the application does not support contactless operations.   
     
     
         11 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein
 the controller detects two-dimensional coordinate information corresponding to positions on the touch panel at which the electrostatic capacitance values are greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold value and controls execution of a process of the application based on the two dimensional coordinate information when is determined that the application supports contactless operations.   
     
     
         12 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein
 the controller detects a transition pattern of two-dimensional coordinate values corresponding to positions on the touch panel at which the electrostatic capacitance values are less than the first predetermined threshold and greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold value and controls execution of a process of the application based on the transition pattern of two dimensional coordinate values when is determined that the application supports contactless operations.   
     
     
         13 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the application is a telephone application that supports contactless operations,   the controller controls the telephone application to perform a hands-free mode off-hook operation when an incoming telephone call is received and a contactless operation is detected at the touch panel, and   the controller controls the telephone application to perform a normal-mode off-hook operation when an incoming call is received and a contact operation is detected at the touch panel.   
     
     
         14 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the application is a videophone application that supports contactless operations, and   the controller controls the videophone application to perform a hands-free mode off-hook operation when an incoming videophone call is received and a contactless operation or a contact operation corresponding to an off-hook operation is detected at the touch panel.   
     
     
         15 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the application is an electronic messaging application that supports contactless operations,   the controller controls the electronic messaging application to display a received electronic message when a first contactless operation is detected at the touch panel, and   the controller controls the electronic messaging application to scroll the displayed received electronic message when a second contactless operation is detected at the touch panel.   
     
     
         16 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the application is a lock/unlock application that locks/unlocks access to the information processing apparatus that supports contactless operations, and   the controller controls the lock/unlock application to switch from a locked mode to an unlock mode when a contactless operation is detected at the touch panel.   
     
     
         17 . The information processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the application is a display magnification application that controls a magnification level of information displayed by the information processing apparatus and that supports contactless operations, and   the controller controls increasing or decreasing a size of the information displayed by the information processing apparatus by a ratio corresponding to a contactless operation detected at the touch panel.   
     
     
         18 . An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus including a touch panel that detects a contact operation and a contactless operation of an operation element by detecting an electrostatic capacitance of an operation surface of the touch panel, the method comprising:
 determining whether an application activated at the information processing apparatus supports contactless operations;   controlling the application based only on contact operations detected at the touch panel when is determined that the application does not support contactless operations; and   controlling the application based on both contact operations and contactless operations detected at the touch panel when it is determined that the application supports contactless operations.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer program instructions, which when executed by an information processing apparatus including a touch panel that detects a contact operation and a contactless operation of an operation element by detecting an electrostatic capacitance of an operation surface of the touch panel, cause the information processing apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:
 determining whether an application activated at the information processing apparatus supports contactless operations;   controlling the application based only on contact operations detected at the touch panel when is determined that the application does not support contactless operations; and   controlling the application based on both contact operations and contactless operations detected at the touch panel when it is determined that the application supports contactless operations.