Patent ID: 7139562

Claim:
A remote control device that controls any of a plurality of apparatuses by transmitting a remote control signal for controlling a target apparatus in response to a user operation, comprising: a self-position detecting unit operable to detect a position of the remote control device and generate self-position information indicating the position; an apparatus specifying unit operable to specify one of the apparatuses as the target apparatus, based on the generated self-position information and a predetermined criterion; a control operation detecting unit operable to detect a user operation; a transmitting unit operable to transmit a remote control signal corresponding to the detected user operation; an apparatus position obtaining unit operable to obtain apparatus position information indicating positions of the apparatuses, wherein the apparatus specifying unit specifies one of the apparatuses as the target apparatus based on (i) a distance between the remote control device and the obtained apparatus position information for each of the apparatuses, the distance being calculated by referring to the obtained apparatus position information and the generated self-position information, and (ii) the predetermined criterion, wherein the predetermined criterion is a positional relation between the remote control device and each of the apparatuses; and wherein the apparatus specifying unit specifies, as the target apparatus, an apparatus that is closest in distance to the remote control device out of the apparatuses; a switch operation detecting unit operable to detect a user operation for switching the target apparatus, wherein when the switch operation detecting unit detects the user operation for switching the target apparatus after at least one of the apparatuses has already been specified, the apparatus specifying unit newly specifies, as the target apparatus, an apparatus that is next closest in distance to the remote control device with respect to a last specified apparatus, and the remote control signal transmitted from the transmitting unit is for controlling the newly specified apparatus and corresponding to the user operation detected by the controlling operation detecting unit.