Information processing device, information processing system, block system, and information processing method

• US 10,146,332 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2015
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Togawa, Keiji, Hirata, Shinichi, Numaguchi, Naoki, Yamagishi, Takeshi, Osawa, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Khoo, Stacy
• Application Number:
  US15/110,873
• Publication Number:
  US 20160334885A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,420 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/245 specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1093 using visible light
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03 Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]

Abstract

A core information receiving section of an information processing device receives information related to the state of a core from a first block of a block set assembled by a user. A structure analyzing section identifies the shape, posture, and position of the block set on the basis of an image photographed by a camera and the information related to the state of the core. An information processing section performs predetermined information processing according to the shape, posture, and position of the block set or an operation on an input device by the user. A display processing section generates an image to be displayed as a result of the information processing, and outputs the image to a display device. A driving control section transmits a signal for controlling the operation of the block set.

Claims

1. An information processing device comprising:

a structure information receiving section obtaining core information from a hub communicating block among a plurality of communicating blocks and non-communicating blocks of an assembled device formed by coupling the communicating blocks and the non-communicating blocks to one another, the communicating blocks each having a respective communicating mechanism configured to transmit respective information related to various parameters of the communicating blocks, the communicating blocks cooperating to transmit the various parameters of the communicating blocks to the hub communicating block, the hub communicating block accumulating the various parameters of the communicating blocks to produce and transmit the core information to the information processing device, and the non-communicating blocks having no such communicating mechanism;

a structure analyzing section operating to receive the core information and at least one image of an entirely of the assembled device from one or more imaging devices, the structure analyzing section;

(i) generating first state information of only a shape, and a posture of a core set of the communicating blocks, excluding the non-communicating blocks, from the core information obtained from the hub communicating block, and (ii) generating a position of the assembled device in a real three dimensional (3D) space from the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device, and (iii) integrating the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device with the core information to generate second state information of a shape, a posture, and a position of the entirely of the assembled device; and

an information processing section performing information processing based on at least one of the first and second state information.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the structure analyzing section:

(i) extracts an image of at least one of the non-communicating blocks by identifying one or more parts of at least one of the communicating blocks in the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device, the one or more parts of the at least one of the communicating blocks including at least one hidden part, on a basis of the core information,

(ii) identifies positional relation between one or more shapes of the non-communicating blocks and the one or more communicating blocks, on a basis of a result of the extraction, and

(iii) generates the first and second state information.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the structure analyzing section:

(i) generates the first and second state information at a predetermined frequency,

(ii) assumes, by a predetermined rule, a shape for at least one further part of the at least one of the non-communicating blocks when the at least one further part is not included in the image of the at least one of the non-communicating blocks, and corrects an assumed shape when the at least one further part is included in the image of the at least one of the non-communicating blocks in a subsequent time step.

4. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the structure analyzing section:

(i) generates the first and second state information at a predetermined frequency, and

(ii) when a number of the one or more non-communicating blocks is changed with passage of time, recognizes the change in number as attachment or detachment of the one or more non-communicating blocks, and

(iii) updates the first and second state information.

5. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the structure analyzing section identifies a shape of the one or more non-communicating blocks by searching non-communicating block basic information in which features of each of the one or more non-communicating blocks are recorded on a basis of the image of the at least one of the non-communicating blocks.

6. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the structure analyzing section:

(i) individually manages the one or more non-communicating blocks in the first and second state information, and

(ii) updates the first and second state information to manage the one or more non-communicating blocks so as to distinguish among the one or more non-communicating blocks, when a division among at least one of the one or more non-communicating blocks from the one or more communicating blocks is performed and a resultant change in the shape of the entirely of the assembled device is triggered.

7. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the information processing section renders an external appearance of the entirely of the assembled device as an object on a basis of at least one of the first and second state information, and displays the object on a display device.

8. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein

the structure analyzing section retains information on a previously removed non-communicating block among the one or more non-communicating blocks in the first and second state information, and

the information processing section renders, as an object, an external appearance of the entirely of the assembled device when the previously removed non-communicating block is restored to an original position, by referring to the first and second state information according to a request from a user, and displays the object on a display device.

9. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the information processing section displays an external appearance of the entirely of the assembled device as an object on a display device, receives an input connecting another object model on a screen from a user, and reflects a virtual connection due to the input in the first and second state information.

10. An information processing system comprising:

an assembled device formed by coupling a hub communicating block, among a plurality of communicating blocks, and non-communicating blocks to one another, the communicating blocks each having a respective communicating mechanism configured to transmit respective information related to various parameters of the communicating blocks, the communicating blocks cooperating to transmit the various parameters of the communicating blocks to the hub communicating block, the hub communicating block accumulating the various parameters of the communicating blocks to produce and transmit core information to an information processing device, and the non-communicating blocks having no such communicating mechanism;

a structure information receiving section obtaining the core information from the hub communicating block;

a structure analyzing section operating to receive the core information and at least one image of an entirely of the assembled device from one or more imaging devices, the structure analyzing section;

(i) generating first state information of only a shape, and a posture of a core set of the communicating blocks, excluding the non-communicating blocks, from the core information obtained from the hub communicating block, and (ii) generating a position of the assembled device in a real three dimensional (3D) space from the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device, and (iii) integrating the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device with the core information to generate second state information of a shape, a posture, and a position of the entirely of the assembled device; and

an information processing section performing information processing based on at least one of the first and second state information.

11. An information processing method of an information processing device, the information processing method comprising:

obtaining core information from a hub communicating block among a plurality of communicating blocks and non-communicating blocks of an assembled device formed by coupling the communicating blocks and the non-communicating blocks to one another, the communicating blocks each having a respective communicating mechanism configured to transmit respective information related to various parameters of the communicating blocks, the communicating blocks cooperating to transmit the various parameters of the communicating blocks to the hub communicating block, the hub communicating block accumulating the various parameters of the communicating blocks to produce and transmit the core information to the information processing device, and the non-communicating blocks having no such communicating mechanism;

receiving the core information and at least one image of an entirely of the assembled device from one or more imaging devices;

generating first state information of only a shape, and a posture of a core set of the communicating blocks, excluding the non-communicating blocks, from the core information obtained from the hub communicating block;

generating a position of the assembled device in a real three dimensional (3D) space from the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device;

integrating the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device with the core information to generate second state information of a shape, a posture, and a position of the entirely of the assembled device; and

performing information processing based on at least one of the first and second state information.

12. A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium containing a computer program, which when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement actions, comprising:

obtaining core information from a hub communicating block among a plurality of communicating blocks and non-communicating blocks of an assembled device formed by coupling the communicating blocks and the non-communicating blocks to one another, the communicating blocks each having a respective communicating mechanism configured to transmit respective information related to various parameters of the communicating blocks, the communicating blocks cooperating to transmit the various parameters of the communicating blocks to the hub communicating block, the hub communicating block accumulating the various parameters of the communicating blocks to produce and transmit the core information to an information processing device, and the non-communicating blocks having no such communicating mechanism;

receiving the core information and at least one image of an entirely of the assembled device from one or more imaging devices;

generating first state information of only a shape, and a posture of a core set of the communicating blocks, excluding the non-communicating blocks, from the core information obtained from the hub communicating block;

generating a position of the assembled device in a real three dimensional (3D) space from the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device;

integrating the at least one image of the entirely of the assembled device with the core information to generate second state information of a shape, a posture, and a position of the entirely of the assembled device; and

performing information processing based on at least one of the first and second state information.