Ski simulator

• US 20010049322A1
• Filed: 06/25/2001
• Published: 12/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hideki Inoue, Makoto Sugawara, Tatsuya Watanabe, Yuji Sugimori
• Original Assignee: Hideki Inoue, Makoto Sugawara, Tatsuya Watanabe, Yuji Sugimori
• Inventors: Watanabe, Tatsuya, Sugimori, Yuji, Inoue, Hideki, Sugawara, Makoto
• Granted Patent: US 6,582,300 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 482/8
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0644 with display speed of moving landscape controlled by the user's performance
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/16 Angular positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/18 for skiing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/21 characterised by their sensors, purposes or types
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/245 specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/28 responding to control signals received from the game device for affecting ambient conditions, e.g. for vibrating players' seats, activating scent dispensers or affecting temperature or light controlling the output signals based on the game progress A63F13/50
• 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 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/57 Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game A63F13/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/807 Gliding or sliding on surfaces, e.g. using skis, skates or boards
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1062 being specially adapted to a type of game, e.g. steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/302 specially adapted for receiving control signals not targeted to a display device or game input means, e.g. vibrating driver's seat, scent dispenser
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/64 for computing dynamical parameters of game objects, e.g. motion determination or computation of frictional forces for a virtual car
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8041 Skating using skis, skates or board

Abstract

A ski game machine executes a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player to display an object of a skier corresponding to the player on a display device. The ski game machine comprises: a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting direction and degree of a rotation of the imitation ski; a control unit for obtaining position data showing a current position of the skier on a ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, generating polygon data showing a trace of the skis of the skier according to the position data, storing the polygon data while the skier is skiing on the ski course, and generating display data of the trace to display on the display device according to the stored polygon data of the trace; and a display for displaying the ski course with the trace of the skis according to the display data of the trace generated by the control unit.

Claims

1. A ski game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player and displaying an object of a skier corresponding to the player, comprising:

a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting direction and degree of a rotation of the imitation ski;

a control unit for obtaining position data showing a current position of the skier on a ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, generating polygon data showing traces of the skis of the skier according to the position data, storing the polygon data while the skier is skiing on the ski course, and generating display data of the trace to display on the display device according to the stored polygon data of the traces; and

a display for displaying the ski course with the traces of the skis according to the display data of the traces generated by the control unit.

4. The ski game machine according to

claim 1

,

2

or 3, wherein the imitation skis has a mechanism in which the player gives a rotation toward a left or right direction and a rotation toward an edging direction, and said ski rotation detector detects the directions and degrees of said left or right direction and said edging direction.

2. A ski game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player and displaying an object of a skier corresponding to the player, comprising:

a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting direction and degree of a rotation of the imitation ski;

a game executing unit for obtaining position data showing a current position of the skier on a ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, obtaining a distance for dropping the skier'"'"'s feet on a snow surface according to the change of the position data, obtaining data of a current position of the player'"'"'s waist by making the distance for dropping the player'"'"'s waist smaller than the distance for dropping the feet, obtaining angles between thighs and shanks set to a predetermined length from the feet andwaist positions and generating angle data of the thighs and shanks;

a video image processor for generating polygon data of the thighs and shanks according to the angle data and generating display data of the thighs and shanks to display according to the polygon data; and

a display for displaying the skier'"'"'s legs in a form according to an unevenness and an inclined angle on the snow surface according to the display data of the thighs and shanks generated from the video image processor.

3. A ski game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player and displaying an object of a skier corresponding to the player, comprising:

a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting a rotating direction and degree of a rotation of the imitation ski;

a control unit for obtaining speed data showing the current skier'"'"'s speed on a ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, generating a driving signal for driving the imitation skis when the rotation degree of the imitation skis is exceeded than a predetermined threshold corresponding to the speed data; and

a ski driver which receives the driving signal for giving a predetermined vibration to the imitation skies.

5. A game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by operating imitation means by a player and displaying an object of a skier corresponding to the player, comprising:

an imitation operation detector for detecting a direction and a degree of operation of the imitation operation means and generating the control signal;

a control unit for obtaining current position data of an object on a course from course data and the control signal, generating polygon data showing a track of said object according to said position data and storing the polygon data while moving on said course, and generating display data of the tracks for displaying on a display screen according to said stored polygon data of the tracks; and

a display for displaying said tracks of the object with the course according to said display data of the tracks generated by said control unit.

6. A ski game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player to display an object of a skier corresponding to the player on a display device, comprising:

a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting a rotation of the imitation ski;

a storage medium for storing at least position data on a plurality of passing points of a predetermined ski course, predetermined width data on said passing points of said ski course and inclination data on said ski course;

a control unit for obtaining position data showing a current position of the skier on said ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, detecting said position is out of the predetermined width of the ski course, obtaining progress vector of a direction where the skier'"'"'s position is close to the predetermined route, and generating a driving signal for driving the skis according to said progress vector; and

a ski driver for rotatably driving the skis according to said driving signal of the skis generated by said control unit.

7. A ski game machine in which a game program is executed in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player to display an object of a skier corresponding to the player on a display device, comprising:

a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting a rotation of the imitation ski;

a storage medium for storing at least position data on a plurality of passing points of a predetermined ski course, predetermined width data on said passing points of said ski course and inclination data on said ski course;

a control unit for obtaining position data showing the current position of the skier on said ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, detecting that said position is corresponding or is close to that of an obstacle on said ski course, obtaining progress vector of a direction where the skier'"'"'s position is close to the predetermined route, and generating a driving signal for driving the skis according to said progress vector; and

a ski driver for rotatably driving the skis according to said driving signal of the skis generated by said control unit.

8. A ski game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player to display an object of a skier corresponding to the player on a display device, comprising:

a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting a direction of the imitation ski;

a storage medium for storing at least position data on a plurality of passing points on a predetermined ski course, predetermined width data on said passing points of said ski course and inclination data on said ski course;

a control unit for obtaining position data showing the current position of the skier on said ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, detecting that said position is corresponding to or is close to that of an obstacle on said ski course, obtaining a new progress vector for reducing a difference of an angle between the progress vector of the skier and an ideal progress vector toward a direction for tying the passing points, and generating a driving signal for driving the skis according to said progress vector; and

a ski driver for rotatably driving the skis according to said driving signal of the skis generated by said control unit.

9. A ski game machine in which a game program is executed in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player to display an object of a skier corresponding to the player on a display device, comprising:

a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting a rotation of the imitation ski;

a storage medium for storing at least ski course data having data of a predetermined route on a ski course;

a control unit for obtaining position data showing the current position of the skier on said ski course according to said control signal and generating the driving signal of the skies to move said position to the predetermined route; and

a ski driver for rotatably driving the skis according to said driving signal of the skis generated by said control unit.

10. A game machine in which a game program is executed in response to a control signal given by operating imitation operation means by a player to display an object corresponding to the player, comprising:

a storage medium for storing at least course data having data of a predetermined route on a course;

a control unit for obtaining position data showing a current position of the object on said ski course according to the control signal and generating a driving signal of the imitation operation means to move said position to the predetermined route; and

a driver for driving the imitation operation means according to said driving signal generated by said control signal.

11. A ski simulator comprising:

vertical shafts provided in vertical directions in parallel to each other;

a pair of swing frames which are fastened to each of the vertical shafts;

a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the swing frames; and

steps for putting the player'"'"'s feet provided on the front ends of the swing frames.

15. The ski simulator according to either of claims 11 through 14,

wherein a driving device for rotating the swing frames is provided.

16. The ski simulator according to either of claims 11 through 15,

wherein a display section for displaying video images of a ski course is provided at front.

17. The ski simulator according to

claim 16

,

wherein the display section for displaying video image pictures is slightly inclined upward.

12. A ski simulator comprising:

vertical shafts provided in vertical directions in parallel to each other;

a pair of swing frames which are fastened to each of the vertical shafts;

a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the swing frames;

almost horizontal shafts provided on the front end of the swing frames; and

steps rotatably provided to the horizontal shaft, for putting the player'"'"'s feet thereon.

14. The ski simulator according to either of

claim 12

or

13

,

wherein the horizontal shafts provided on the swing frames are slightly inclined to the upper-frontward.

13. A ski simulator comprising:

vertical shafts provided to a vertical direction in parallel to each other;

a pair of swing frames fastened to each vertical shaft;

a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the swing frames;

a pair of almost horizontal shafts provided on each front ends of the swing frames;

a pair of steps, rotatably provided to the horizontal shaft, for putting the feet thereon; and

a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the steps.