Control method used in a remote control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9621433-B2
Application number	US-201314381416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 25, 2013
Priority date	Dec 28, 2012
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A control method used in a remote control system according to the present disclosure includes: a step of displaying candidates for a target apparatus to be controlled among apparatuses on a user interface region of a display unit of an information terminal; a step of obtaining, via a network, control indexes used to determine a display mode for the user interface region; a step of displaying, on the user interface region, one or more control menus in a display mode determined based on a selected target apparatus and the control indexes; a step of generating a control signal for causing the target apparatus to perform an operation according to control corresponding to a control menu, when the control menu is selected from the one or more displayed control menus; and a step of transmitting the control signal to the target apparatus via the network.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A control method used in a remote control system including a plurality of apparatuses and an information terminal that controls at least one of the apparatuses as a target apparatus via a network, the control method comprising:
displaying target apparatus candidates or action type candidates on a user interface region of a display unit of the information terminal, the target apparatus candidates being candidates for the target apparatus among the apparatuses, and the action type candidates being candidates for a target action type which a user wishes to take and being associated with respective operations on the target apparatus;
obtaining, via the network, a plurality of control indexes used to determine a display mode for the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal;
displaying, on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal, one or more control menus in the display mode determined based on (i) the target apparatus or the target action type and (ii) the control indexes, the target apparatus being selected from the target apparatus candidates, and the target action type being selected from the action type candidates;
generating a control signal for causing the target apparatus to perform an operation according to control corresponding to a control menu, when the control menu is selected from the one or more control menus displayed on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal; and
transmitting the control signal to the target apparatus via the network,
wherein the control indexes include an attribute of an operator of the information terminal and a state of the target apparatus,
in the displaying of the one or more control menus, when (i) the target apparatus has a heating function and (ii) the operator of the information terminal is a child, the one or more control menus displayed on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal include a predetermined control menu that is not selectable, the predetermined control menu being selectable when the operator of the information terminal is an adult,
the predetermined control menu is for powering the target apparatus ON, and
in the displaying of the one or more control menus, only a control menu for powering the target apparatus OFF is displayed on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal as the one or more control menus, and the control menu for powering the target apparatus ON is not displayed on the user interface region.

2. A control method used in a remote control system including a plurality of apparatuses and an information terminal that controls at least one of the apparatuses as a target apparatus via a network, the control method comprising:
displaying target apparatus candidates or action type candidates on a user interface region of a display unit of the information terminal, the target apparatus candidates being candidates for the target apparatus among the apparatuses, and the action type candidates being candidates for a target action type which a user wishes to take and being associated with respective operations on the target apparatus;
obtaining, via the network, a plurality of control indexes used to determine a display mode for the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal;
displaying, on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal, one or more control menus in the display mode determined based on (i) the target apparatus or the target action type and (ii) the control indexes, the target apparatus being selected from the target apparatus candidates, and the target action type being selected from the action type candidates;
generating a control signal for causing the target apparatus to perform an operation according to control corresponding to a control menu, when the control menu is selected from the one or more control menus displayed on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal; and
transmitting the control signal to the target apparatus via the network,
wherein the control indexes include: an attribute of an operator of the information terminal; a current position of the operator of the information terminal; an attribute of a different operator of an information terminal different from the information terminal; and a current position of the different operator, and
in the displaying of the one or more control menus, when (i) the target apparatus has a heating function, (ii) the operator of the information terminal is a child, (iii) the different operator of the different information terminal is near the current position of the operator of the information terminal, and (iv) the different operator of the different information terminal is an adult, the one or more control menus displayed on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal are same as the one or more control menus displayed when the operator of the information terminal is an adult.

3. The control method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control indexes further include a current position of an operator of the information terminal, and
in the displaying of the one or more control menus, when the target apparatus has a heating function, the display mode is determined according to whether the current position is outside or inside of a home in which the target apparatus is located.

4. The control method according to claim 2 ,
wherein the control indexes further include a state of the target apparatus,
in the displaying of the one or more control menus, when (i) the target apparatus has a heating function and (ii) the operator of the information terminal is a child, the one or more control menus displayed on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal include a predetermined control menu that is not selectable, the predetermined control menu being selectable when the operator of the information terminal is an adult.

5. The control method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control indexes further include a current position of an operator of the information terminal, and
in the displaying of the one or more control menus, when (i) the target apparatus has a heating function, (ii) the operator of the information terminal is a child, and (iii) the current position is in a home in which the target apparatus is located, the one or more control menus displayed on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal are identical to the one or more control menus displayed when the operator of the information terminal is an adult.

6. The control method according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the action type candidates are displayed and the target action type is selected by an operator of the information terminal from the action type candidates, the displaying of the target apparatus candidates or the action type candidates includes determining whether or not an operation on the target apparatus which is associated with the target action type satisfies a warning condition for issuing a warning to the operator of the information terminal, and
in the displaying of the one or more control menus, when it is determined in the determining that the operation satisfies the warning condition, the warning is displayed together with or superimposing on the one or more control menus on the user interface region of the display unit of the information terminal.

7. The control method according to claim 6 ,
wherein in the determining of whether or not the operation satisfies the warning condition, when the target action type is selected by the operator of the information terminal from the action type candidates, it is dete

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Corp America

Inventors

• Yoshida Chikara
• Yamada Kazushige
• Shimizu Kenji
• Takahashi Masaki
• Nishikawa Yuri
• Kozuka Masayuki
• Nakano Toshihisa
• Sekibe Tsutomu
• Ohmori Motoji
• Takemura Hiroyuki
• Yamaguchi Jun
• Hosaka Takeshi

Classifications

• H04L41/22 Primary

  comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI] · CPC title

• G06F3/0482

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• G06F3/04847

  Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials · CPC title

• G08C2201/50

  Receiving or transmitting feedback, e.g. replies, status updates, acknowledgements, from the controlled devices · CPC title

• G08C2201/30

  User interface · CPC title