STORAGE MEDIUM STORING INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS

• US 20100286940A1
• Filed: 07/28/2009
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: DOHTA, Takuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 9,050,525 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/92
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• 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 2300/1006 having additional degrees of freedom
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• 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 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry

Abstract

An information processing program is provided, which is executed by a computer of an information processing apparatus that executes predetermined processing based on acceleration data outputted from an input device including an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration. The information processing program causes the computer to function as data obtaining means, change amount calculation means, and gravity direction calculation means. The data obtaining means repeatedly obtains the acceleration data. The change amount calculation means calculates, by using a history of acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, a change amount of acceleration generated in the input device. The gravity direction calculation means calculates a direction of gravity of the input device by using the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, based on the change amount of the acceleration.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium storing an information processing program executed by a computer of an information processing apparatus that executes predetermined processing based on acceleration data outputted from an input device including an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration,

the information processing program causing the computer to function as:

data obtaining means for repeatedly obtaining the acceleration data;

change amount calculation means for calculating, by using a history of acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, a change amount of acceleration generated in the input device; and

gravity direction calculation means for calculating a direction of gravity of the input device by using the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, based on the change amount of the acceleration.

2. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the gravity direction calculation means calculates a direction of gravity in current processing by correcting a direction of gravity calculated in last processing, by using the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, based on the change amount of the acceleration.

3. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein when the change amount of the acceleration is smaller, the gravity direction calculation means greatly corrects the direction of gravity calculated in the last processing, and calculates the direction of gravity in the current processing.

4. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein when the change amount of the acceleration is smaller, the gravity direction calculation means increases a degree of correcting the direction of gravity calculated in the last processing, and calculates the direction of gravity in the current processing.

5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the gravity direction calculation means executes the correction only when the change amount of the acceleration is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value.

6. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein:

the gravity direction calculation means includes;

temporary credibility calculation means for calculating, based on the change amount of the acceleration, temporary credibility indicative of a degree at which the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data is credible as gravitational acceleration; and

credibility setting means for setting, based on the temporary credibility, credibility indicative of a degree of correcting the direction of gravity calculated in the last processing; and

the gravity direction calculation means calculates the direction of gravity in the current processing by correcting, in accordance with the credibility set by the credibility setting means, the direction of gravity calculated in the last processing.

7. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 6, wherein:

the temporary credibility calculation means calculates the temporary credibility so as to be higher when the change amount of the acceleration is smaller; and

the credibility setting means sets the credibility to be higher when the temporary credibility is higher.

8. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein the credibility setting means sets credibility in the current processing so as to be difficult to be increased when being higher than credibility set in the last processing, and so as to be easy to be decreased when being lower than the credibility set in the last processing.

9. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein:

the credibility setting means includes high/low determination means for determining whether or not the temporary credibility calculated by the temporary credibility calculation means is higher than credibility set in the last processing; and

when the high/low determination means determines that the temporary credibility calculated by the temporary credibility calculation means is higher than the credibility set in the last processing, the credibility setting means sets, as credibility in the current processing, a value between the temporary credibility calculated by the temporary credibility calculation means and the credibility set in the last processing.

10. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein when the high/low determination means determines that the temporary credibility calculated by the temporary credibility calculation means is equal to or lower than the credibility set in the last processing, the credibility setting means sets, as the credibility in the current processing, a value of the temporary credibility calculated by the temporary credibility calculation means.

11. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 6, wherein the gravity direction calculation means calculates the direction of gravity in the current processing by combining, at a rate indicated by the credibility, gravitational acceleration generated in the direction of gravity calculated in the last processing and the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data.

12. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein when the change amount of the acceleration is 0, the gravity direction calculation means calculates, as a direction of gravity in current processing, the direction of the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data.

13. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein:

the information processing program further causes the computer to function as acceleration vector calculation means for calculating an acceleration vector based on the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data obtained by the data obtaining means;

the change amount calculation means calculates a change amount of the magnitude of the acceleration vector by using a history of the acceleration vector; and

the gravity direction calculation means calculates a gravity direction vector indicative of the direction of gravity of the input device by using the acceleration vector calculated by the acceleration vector calculation means, based on the change amount of the magnitude of the acceleration vector.

14. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the gravity direction calculation means calculates a gravity direction vector in current processing by combining a gravity direction vector calculated in last processing and the acceleration vector calculated by the acceleration vector calculation means, at a predetermined rate, based on the change amount of the magnitude of the acceleration vector.

15. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the gravity direction calculation means decreases the rate of combining the acceleration vector calculated by the acceleration vector calculation means when the change amount of the magnitude of the acceleration vector is greater, and calculates the gravity direction vector in the current processing.

16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the gravity direction calculation means calculates the gravity direction vector in the current processing by combining, at a rate linearly proportional to the change amount of the magnitude of the acceleration vector, the acceleration vector calculated by the acceleration vector calculation means.

17. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the information processing program further causes the computer to function as process means for executing a predetermined process by using the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data and with, as a reference, the direction of gravity calculated by the gravity direction calculation means.

18. An information processing apparatus that executes predetermined processing based on acceleration data outputted from an input device including an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration, the information processing apparatus comprising:

data obtaining means for repeatedly obtaining the acceleration data;

change amount calculation means for calculating, by using a history of acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, a change amount of acceleration generated in the input device; and

gravity direction calculation means for calculating a direction of gravity of the input device by using the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, based on the change amount of the acceleration.

19. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the gravity direction calculation means calculates a direction of gravity in current processing by correcting a direction of gravity calculated in last processing by using the acceleration indicated by the acceleration data, based on the change amount of the acceleration.