Information processing apparatus

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that has a projection unit that projects data onto a platform, an image capturing unit that scans a subject on the platform, and a detection unit that detects motions made by a user.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus according the first embodiment.

#FIG. 3 is a side view of the information processing apparatus according the first embodiment.

#The first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Constituent elements described in the following embodiments are merely examples and the scope of the present invention is in no way limited to only these examples.

#FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a configuration of the hardware of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1A, a CPU 101 made up of a microcomputer performs arithmetic operations, logical determination, and the like for various types of processing, and controls the constituent elements that are connected to a system bus 108. A ROM 102 is a program memory that stores programs for control to be performed by the CPU 101. A RAM 103 is a data memory that has a work area for the above-mentioned programs for the CPU 101, a save area for data during error processing, and a load area for the above-mentioned control programs, for example. A storage apparatus 104 is constituted by a hard disk, an externally connected memory apparatus, or the like, and the storage apparatus 104 stores various types of data such as electronic data and programs according to the present embodiment. A camera 105 captures an image of a work space in which the user performs an operation, and provides the captured image to a system as an input image. A projector 106 projects video including electronic data and user interface components onto the work space. A gesture sensor 107 is, for example, an infrared light sensor that detects detection target motion such as a hand motion made by the user in the work space, and based on this detection, detects whether or not the user has touched an operation button or the like that is projected onto a projection surface 110 (see FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, the projection surface 110 is a flat surface located below the information processing apparatus, and is, for example, the surface of a table onto which the information processing apparatus 109 is placed. Note that a configuration is possible in which the projection surface 110 is provided such that an image can be projected by the projector 106 onto a portion of the information processing apparatus 109 such that an image can be projected by the projector 106.

#FIG. 1B is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1B, the camera 105 captures an image of the subject placed on the projection surface 110, such as a document that was hand written by the user, and determines the characters and the like of the document. Also, the projector 106 projects a user interface screen or the like onto the projection surface 110 (see FIG. 4). The projector 106 can also project an image that was captured by the camera 105. The gesture sensor 107 emits infrared light and detects an operation made by a hand of the user or the like in the work space on the projection surface 110 (see FIG. 4) with respect to the user interface, etc. projected by the projector 106 onto the projection surface 110. When the user interface is operated with a hand of the user or the like, the image projected by the projector 106 changes, and image capturing is performed by the camera 105. A detection unit 202 is constituted by the CPU, the ROM, and the RAM (hereinafter, the CPU 101 etc.), and detects an area in which a hand of the user exists and an area in which a finger of the hand of the user exists using a detection signal output by the gesture sensor 107. Below, “detecting a hand of the user” and “detecting a finger” are both used.