Information processing apparatus and method

• US 20030156144A1
• Filed: 01/30/2003
• Published: 08/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Morita, Kenji
• Granted Patent: US 7,610,558 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/848
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1012 involving biosensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat, limb activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 Virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00

Abstract

The present invention provides an information processing apparatus for generating and displaying a compound real space image in which a plurality of subjects have virtual objects by their hands respectively, including a unit for measuring a position posture of the hand of the subject, a unit for measuring a view position and a view direction of the subject, and a unit for generating the virtual object in dependence upon the view position, the view direction and the position posture of the hand, and synthesizing the virtual object with the real space image, and further including an upcast action detecting unit for calculating a shifting speed of the hand in an upward direction and for detecting an upcast action, a unit for judging that the hand is stopped if the shifting speed of the hand in the upward direction becomes smaller than a predetermined vales after the upcast action was detected by the detecting unit, and a determining unit for determining a partner subject to whom the virtual object is upcast on the basis of the view position and the view direction of the subject when it is judged that the hand is stopped.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus for generating and displaying a compound real space image in which a plurality of subjects have virtual objects by their hands respectively, by synthesizing a real space image and a virtual space image representing a virtual object, comprising:

a measuring unit for measuring a position posture of the hand of the subject;

a measuring unit for measuring a view position and a view direction of the subject; and

a synthesis unit for generating the virtual object in dependence upon the view position, the view direction and the position posture of the hand, and synthesizing the virtual object with the real space image;

and further comprising;

an upcast action detecting unit for calculating a shifting speed of the hand in an upward direction and for detecting an upcast action;

a judging unit for judging that the hand is stopped if the shifting speed of the hand in the upward direction becomes smaller than a predetermined value after the upcast action was detected by said upcast action detecting unit; and

a determining unit for determining a partner subject to whom the virtual object is upcast on the basis of the view position and the view direction of the subject when it is judged that the hand is stopped.

2. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a judging unit for judging whether or not the partner subject is effecting the upcast action when the upcast action to the determined partner subject is decided;

a measuring unit for measuring the view direction of the partner subject; and

a control unit for controlling a timing of processing for mutually casting and receiving the virtual object between the subject and the partner subject in accordance with a judged result of said judging unit and a measured result of said measuring unit.

3. An information processing method in which a position posture of a hand of a subject is measured, a view position and a view direction of the subject are measured, a virtual space image is generated in accordance with the view position, the view direction and the position posture of the hand, and a compound real-like space image is generated by synthesizing the virtual space image with a real space image, wherein:

when a shifting speed of the hand of the subject is detected and a condition that the shifting speed is not less than a predetermined value continues for a time not less than a predetermined time, the virtual space image is moved to another subject, and the another subject to whom the virtual space image is to be moved is judged on the basis of the view position and the view direction when the shifting speed of the hand becomes smaller than a predetermined value after the condition that the shifting speed of the hand continues for the time not less than the predetermined time.

4. An information processing method according to claim 3, wherein, if a condition that a shifting speed of a hand of another subject is not less than a predetermined value continues when the shifting speed of the hand becomes smaller than a predetermined value after a condition that the shifting speed of the hand is not less than the predetermined value continues for the time not less than the predetermined time, the respective virtual space images are moved each other simultaneously between the subject and the another subject.

5. A program realizing the information processing method according to claim 3.

6. A storing medium storing a program for realizing the information processing method according to claim 3.