MOTION DETERMINATION APPARATUS, GAME APPARATUS THEREFOR, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM THEREFOR

• US 20100184513A1
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Muto, Takashi, Ueda, Satoshi, Mukasa, Shigehito
• Granted Patent: US 8,357,043 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/37
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/00 Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions gaming systems which provide a financial reward G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• 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 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1087 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8029 Fighting without shooting
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8088 involving concurrently several players in a non-networked game, e.g. on the same game console
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0325 using a plurality of light emitters or reflectors or a plurality of detectors forming a reference frame from which to derive the orientation of the object, e.g. by triangulation or on the basis of reference deformation in the picked up image
• 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

Abstract

The game apparatus (1) has a fixed main unit (100) and a movable operating device (8) that is held by a player and is capable of detecting the body motion of the player and of transmitting a signal to, receiving from, the main unit (100). The operating device (8) has an acceleration sensor (86) for detecting acceleration, a light source (85), and a transmitter (87) for transmitting a value detected by the acceleration sensor (86) to the main unit (100). The main unit (100) has light receiving units (9L,9R) that receive the light emitted from the light source (85) to detect the intensity of the received light, a RAM (14), and a processor (16). Processor (16) repeats a process of detecting the position of the operating device (8) based on the intensity of light detected by each of the light receiving units (9L,9R), causes a RAM (14) to store the detected position history, determines whether a player has performed a predetermined motion based on the position history and the detected value of the acceleration sensor (86).

Claims

1. A motion determination apparatus comprising:

a fixed main unit; and

a movable operating device, held by an operator, that detects body motions of the operator and for transmitting signals to, and receiving from, the main unit,

the operating device comprising;

an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration;

a light emitter that emits light; and

a transmitter that transmits a value detected by the acceleration sensor to the main unit, and

the main unit comprising;

light receivers arranged at at least two positions, each receiving light emitted from the light emitter and detecting the strength of the received light;

a position detector that performs a process of detecting a position of the operating device based on the intensity of the received light detected by each of the light receivers;

a storage device that stores the history of positions of the operating device detected by the position detector; and

a motion determiner that determines whether the operator has performed a predetermined motion on the basis of the history of the positions of the operating device and the detected value of the acceleration sensor.

2. A motion determination apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the motion determiner determines whether an extension and retraction motion of the operator has been performed based on the relationship between a first determination distance of a first position detected by the position detector and a second determination distance of a second position immediately previously detected by the position detector, the determination distance being a distance between an origin and a position detected by the position detector after the origin was detected, with the origin being a point of a position detected by the position detector immediately before acceleration of equal to or greater than a predetermined standard value is detected by the acceleration sensor.

3. A motion determination apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a direction calculator that calculates a direction of a straight line passing through the origin and the second position in a case in which it is determined by the motion determiner that an extension and retraction motion of the operator has been performed.

4. A motion determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

there is a plurality of the operating devices, and

the light emitter of each of the operating devices emits light during a period in which the light emitter of any other operating device of the operating devices is not emitting light.

5. A motion determination apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the frequency of light emitted by the light emitter is set to a frequency that does not interfere with external light.

6. A game apparatus comprising:

the motion determination apparatus of claim 1;

a display unit connected to the main unit; and

a game executor that is provided with the main unit and for conducting a game by using the display unit,

wherein the game executor executes a predetermined instruction in a case in which it is determined by the motion determiner that a predetermined motion has been performed.

7. A game apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the operating device is held by or is worn on a hand of the operator, and

the motion determiner determines that the extension and retraction motion is a hitting motion.

8. A game apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the operating device is attached to a leg of the operator, and

the motion determiner determines that the extension and retraction motion is a kicking motion.

9. A game apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the operating device is attached to the upper torso of the operator other than the hands, and

the motion determiner determines that the extension and retraction motion is a bending and stretching motion.

10. A game apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the motion determiner determines whether an extension and retraction motion of the operator has been performed based on the relationship between a first determination distance with respect to a first position detected by the position detector and a second determination distance with respect to a second position immediately previously detected by the position detector, the determination distance being a distance between an origin and a position detected by the position detector after the origin was detected, with the origin being a point of a position detected by the position detector immediately before acceleration of equal to or greater than a predetermined standard value is detected by the acceleration sensor,

the game apparatus further comprising:

a type identifier that, in a case in which it is determined that an extension and retraction motion of the operator has been performed, identifies a type of the extension and retraction motion of the operator based on the history of the positions of the operating device.

11. A game apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the type identifier identifies the type of the extension and retraction motion of the operator based on a direction of the extension and retraction motion and a predetermined range of the direction, the direction being assumed as corresponding to a direction of a straight line passing through a destination point and the origin, with the destination point being the position that is the most distant from the origin.

12. A computer program for use in a motion determination apparatus,

wherein the motion determination apparatus is provided with a fixed main unit;

and a movable operating device, held by an operator, that detects motions of a body of the operator and for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the main unit, the operating device having;

an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration;

a light emitter that emits light; and

a transmitter that transmits a value detected by the acceleration sensor to the main unit, and the main unit having;

light receivers arranged at at least two positions, each receiving light emitted from the light emitter and detecting the strength of the received light,

the computer program causing the main unit to function as;

a position detector that performs a process of detecting a position of the operating device based on the intensity of the received light detected by each of the light receivers;

a storage device that stores history of positions of the operating device detected by the position detector; and

a motion determiner that determines whether the operator has performed a predetermined motion on the basis of the history of the positions of the operating device and the detected value of the acceleration sensor.