Position calculation system, position calculation device, storage medium storing position calculation program, and position calculation method

• US 10,150,033 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2011
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Ohta, Keizo, Ito, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): Danielsen, Nathan
• Application Number:
  US13/209,756
• Publication Number:
  US 20120044177A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,675 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-158, 345168-169, 463 36- 39
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/2145 the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/22 Setup operations, e.g. calibration, key configuration or button assignment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/323 between game devices with different hardware characteristics, e.g. hand-held game devices connectable to game consoles or arcade machines
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5255 according to dedicated instructions from a player, e.g. using a secondary joystick to rotate the camera around a player's character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/54 involving acoustic signals, e.g. for simulating revolutions per minute [RPM] dependent engine sounds in a driving game or reverberation against a virtual wall
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1075 using a touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6669 using a plurality of virtual cameras concurrently or sequentially, e.g. automatically switching between fixed virtual cameras when a character change rooms
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6676 by dedicated player input
• 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 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

An example position calculation system calculates a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device. In the position calculation system, the position in the virtual space is calculated based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on a predetermined input surface of the controller device. More specifically, the position calculation system may calculate, as the position in the virtual space, a position on a surface which is determined in accordance with the attitude of the controller device in the virtual space, based on the input position.

Claims

1. A position calculation system for calculating a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device, comprising:

a processing system having at least one processor and configured to at least;

calculate the position on a virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on an input surface of the controller device, the input surface including a touch sensitive display surface, at least an attitude and/or a position of the virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space corresponding to the attitude of the controller device.

2. The position calculation system according to claim 1, comprising the controller device and an information processing device, wherein:

the controller device is configured to;

detect an input position on the input surface;

output data for calculating the attitude; and

transmit outputted data to the information processing device; and

the information processing device configured to;

calculate the attitude of the controller device based on data outputted from the controller device; and

calculate the position in the virtual space based on the attitude and the input position.

3. The position calculation system according to claim 2, wherein the controller device includes an inertial sensor.

4. The position calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the controller device further comprises a display device, having at least the touch sensitive display surface, for displaying an image representing the virtual space.

5. The position calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the processing system further configured to calculate, as the position in the virtual space, a position on the virtual surface which is determined in accordance with the attitude of the controller device in the virtual space, based on the input position.

6. The position calculation system according to claim 5, wherein the processing system further configured to set the virtual surface so that the attitude of the virtual surface changes in accordance with the attitude of the controller device.

7. The position calculation system according to claim 5, wherein:

the controller device comprises;

a display device configured to display an image representing a virtual space including an area of the virtual surface; and

a touch panel provided on a screen of the display device,

the position on the virtual surface, which is calculated based on the input position, is calculated so that the input position on the touch panel and the position on the virtual surface coincide with each other on the screen.

8. The position calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the processing system further configured to perform a predetermined process using the position in the virtual space associated with the input position as an input.

9. The position calculation system according to claim 8, wherein the processing system further configured to identify one of a plurality of areas set in the virtual space that includes the position in the virtual space associated with the input position, and cause a predetermined sound output device to output a sound associated with the identified area.

10. The position calculation system according to claim 9, wherein:

the plurality of areas are arranged in a generally arc shape;

the virtual surface is set in the virtual space so that the virtual surface moves along the plurality of areas in accordance with a change in the attitude of the controller device; and

a position on the virtual surface is calculated based on the input position.

11. The position calculation system according to claim 8, wherein the processing system further configured to:

set the predetermined object in the virtual space;

generate an image representing the virtual space including the predetermined object as an image to be displayed on a predetermined display device; and

perform the predetermined process when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of the predetermined object.

12. The position calculation system according to claim 11, wherein the processing system further configured to:

generate, as an image to be displayed on a display device of the controller device, an image representing a partial region of the object so that the region changes in accordance with the attitude of the controller device; and

generate, as an image to be displayed on another display device separate from the display device of the controller device, an image representing a larger region of the object than the partial region.

13. The position calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the processing system further configured to:

place, in the virtual space, an object whose attitude is controlled so as to correspond to the attitude of the controller device; and

generate, as an image to be displayed on a predetermined display device, an image representing the virtual space including the object.

14. The position calculation system according to claim 1, wherein:

the controller device includes a display device for displaying keys arranged in the virtual space; and

when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of one of the keys, a predetermined sound output device outputs a sound associated with the key corresponding to the position.

15. The position calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual surface in the virtual space being movable along a first, a second, and a third axis based on the attitude of the controller device.

16. The position calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the position in the virtual space along a first axis and a second axis is determined based on the input position on the input surface of the touch sensitive display surface of the controller device, and the position in the virtual space along a third axis is determined based on the attitude of the controller device.

17. A position calculation method for calculating a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device, comprising:

calculating the position on a virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on an input surface of the controller device, the input surface including a touch sensitive display surface, at least an attitude and/or a position of the virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space corresponding to the attitude of the controller device.

18. The position calculation method according to claim 17, wherein the position calculation method is carried out in a system including the controller device and an information processing device, the method further comprising:

detecting the input position on the input surface;

transmitting data of the input position and data for calculating the attitude to the information processing device;

calculating the attitude of the controller device based on the data for calculating the attitude; and

calculating the position in the virtual space based on the attitude and the input position.

19. The position calculation method according to claim 17, further comprising displaying an image representing the virtual space on a display device of the controller device.

20. The position calculation method according to claim 17, further comprising calculating, as the position in the virtual space, a position on the virtual surface which is determined in accordance with the attitude of the controller device in the virtual space, based on the input position.

21. The position calculation method according to claim 20, further comprising setting the virtual surface so that the attitude of the virtual surface changes in accordance with the attitude of the controller device.

22. The position calculation method according to claim 20, wherein:

the controller device comprises;

a display device configured to display an image representing a virtual space including an area of the virtual surface; and

a touch panel provided on a screen of the display device,

the position on the virtual surface, which is calculated based on the input position, is calculated so that the input position on the touch panel and the position on the virtual surface coincide with each other on the screen.

23. The position calculation method according to claim 17, further comprising performing a predetermined process using the position in the virtual space associated with the input position as an input.

24. The position calculation method according to claim 23, further comprising identifying one of a plurality of areas set in the virtual space that includes the position in the virtual space associated with the input position, and outputting a sound associated with the identified area to a predetermined sound output device.

25. The position calculation method according to claim 24, wherein:

the plurality of areas are arranged in a generally arc shape;

the virtual surface is set in the virtual space so that the virtual surface moves along the plurality of areas in accordance with a change in the attitude of the controller device; and

a position on the virtual surface is calculated based on the input position.

26. The position calculation method according to claim 23, further comprising:

setting the predetermined object in the virtual space;

generating, as an image to be displayed on a predetermined display device, an image representing the virtual space including the predetermined object; and

performing the predetermined process when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of the predetermined object.

27. The position calculation method according to claim 26, further comprising:

generating, as an image to be displayed on a display device of the controller device, an image representing a partial region of the object so that the region changes in accordance with the attitude of the controller device; and

generating, as an image to be displayed on another display device separate from the display device of the controller device, an image representing a larger region of the object than the partial region.

28. The position calculation method according to claim 17, further comprising:

placing, in the virtual space, an object whose attitude is controlled so as to correspond to the attitude of the controller device; and

generating, as an image to be displayed on a predetermined display device, an image representing the virtual space including the object.

29. The position calculation method according to claim 17, wherein:

keys arranged in the virtual space are displayed on a display device of the controller device; and

when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of one of the keys, a predetermined sound output device outputs a sound associated with the key corresponding to the position.

30. A position calculation device for calculating a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device and comprising at least one processor, the position calculation device configured to at least:

calculate the position on a virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on an input surface of the controller device, the input surface including a touch sensitive display surface, at least an attitude and/or a position of the virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space corresponding to the attitude of the controller device.

31. The position calculation device according to claim 30, wherein:

an image representing keys arranged in the virtual space is generated as an image to be displayed on a display device of the controller device; and

when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of one of the keys, a sound associated with the position is generated as a sound to be outputted from a predetermined sound output device.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a position calculation program executable on a computer of a position calculation device for calculating a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device, wherein the position calculation program causes the computer to:

calculate the position on a virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space based on an attitude of the controller device and an input position on an input surface of the controller device, the input surface including a touch sensitive display surface, at least an attitude and/or a position of the virtual surface in the three-dimensional virtual space corresponding to the attitude of the controller device.

33. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 32, wherein the position calculation program further causes the computer to:

generate, as an image to be displayed on a display device of the controller device, an image representing keys arranged in the virtual space; and

generate, when the position in the virtual space associated with the input position is calculated to be a position of one of the keys, a sound associated with the key corresponding to the position as a sound to be outputted from a predetermined sound output device.

34. A position calculation system for calculating a position in a three-dimensional virtual space based on an operation on a controller device, comprising:

a processing system having at least one processor and configured to at least;

calculate an input position made to a touch sensitive display surface of the controller device using an input device;

calculate an attitude of the controller device using at least one inertial sensor disposed within a housing of the controller device;

calculate a position in the three-dimensional virtual space along a three-dimensional axis, the position along a first axis and a second axis corresponding to the calculated input position and the position along a third axis corresponding to the calculated attitude of the controller device.

35. The position calculation system according to claim 34, wherein the position corresponding to an input coordinate position in the three-dimensional virtual space, the input coordinate position along the first axis and the second axis corresponding to the calculated input position and the input coordinate position along the third axis corresponding to the calculated attitude of the controller device.

36. The position calculation system according to claim 34, the position in the virtual space corresponds to a position on a virtual surface, the virtual surface having an attitude corresponding to the attitude of the controller device and the position on the virtual surface corresponding to the calculated input position.