COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM HAVING STORED THEREIN INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM

• US 20110291929A1
• Filed: 08/13/2010
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: YAMADA, Yoichi, Tanaka, Ryo, Fujibayashi, Hidemaro
• Granted Patent: US 9,492,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/285 Generating tactile feedback signals via the game input device, e.g. force feedback
• 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 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/822 Strategy games; Role-playing games A63F13/825, A63F13/828 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/308 Details of the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• 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 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence

Abstract

Correspondence data representing correspondence between a plurality of selection target objects and the attitude of an input device is stored in an information processing apparatus. In accordance with attitude/motion data acquired from the input device, the attitude of the input device is calculated. In accordance with the correspondence data, a selection target object corresponding to the attitude of the input device is selected thereby to perform a process based on the selection target object having been selected.

Claims

1. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein an information processing program executed on a computer of an information processing apparatus performing predetermined information processing based on attitude/motion data acquired from an attitude/motion sensor for detecting an attitude or motion of an input device, the computer being caused to function as:

correspondence data storage means for storing correspondence data representing correspondence between a plurality of selection target objects and attitudes of the input device;

object displaying means for displaying the plurality of selection target objects on a display unit;

data acquisition means for acquiring the attitude/motion data;

input attitude calculating means for calculating an input attitude, which is an attitude of the input device, in accordance with the attitude/motion data acquired by the data acquisition means;

object selecting means for selecting a selection target object from among the plurality of selection target objects in accordance with the input attitude calculated by the input attitude calculating means and the correspondence data; and

information processing means for performing a process according to the selection target object selected by the object selecting means.

2. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 1, wherein

the information processing means includes:

selection confirmation means for confirming selection of the selection target object selected by the object selecting means; and

object reference attitude setting means for setting, when the selection confirmation means has confirmed the selection of the selection target object, the attitude of the input device as a reference attitude for the selection target object whose selection has been confirmed,

a process according to the selection target object whose selection has been confirmed is performed, based on the reference attitude set by the object reference attitude setting means.

3. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the object selecting means selects a selection target object from among the plurality of selection target objects in accordance with a tilt direction and a degree of tilt of the input attitude relative to the display unit.

4. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 3, wherein

the object selecting means:

includes projection vector calculating means for calculating a projection vector of the input attitude relative to a display surface of the display unit; and

selects a selection target object from among the plurality of selection target objects in accordance with an orientation and magnitude of the projection vector.

5. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the object displaying means displays the plurality of selection target objects at positions on the display unit, the positions corresponding to the attitudes of the input device in the correspondence data.

6. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 5, the computer further being caused to function as

reference attitude setting means for setting a predetermined reference attitude for the input device, wherein

the correspondence data storage means stores data of an attitude of the input device as an attitude relative to the reference attitude, and

the object selecting means selects one of the selection target objects in accordance with the input attitude relative to the reference attitude.

7. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 6, the computer further being caused to function as:

angle calculating means for calculating an angle between a direction of the reference attitude and a direction of the input attitude, wherein

the object selecting means selects, when the angle calculated by the angle calculating means is equal to or more than a first angle, one of the selection target objects in accordance with the input attitude.

8. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 7, the computer further being caused to function as:

object selection cancellation means for cancelling a state where one of the selection target objects is selected when a second angle which is smaller than the first angle is obtained through calculation by the angle calculating means.

9. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 7, the computer further being caused to function as:

return-to-reference-attitude determination means for determining whether or not the input attitude has changed to an attitude that is identical with or similar to the reference attitude, in a state where any of the selection target objects is selected by the object selecting means; and

object selection cancellation means for cancelling a state where one of the selection target objects is selected when the return-to-reference-attitude determination means has determined that the input attitude is identical with or similar to the reference attitude.

10. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 7, wherein:

the reference attitude setting means sets as the reference attitude an attitude of the input device in a state where a predetermined axis thereof is oriented to the center of the display unit,

the computer is further caused to function as

instruction object displaying means for displaying an instruction object which indicates a position, on the display unit, corresponding to the direction in which the predetermined axis of the input device is oriented, at a position, on the display unit, distanced from the center of the display unit toward the direction of the input attitude by a distance corresponding to the angle calculated by the angle calculating means.

11. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 10, wherein

for each of the selection target objects, a predetermined range centered about the selection target object is set as a selection continuation range, and the selection continuation range of one of the selection target objects on the display screen overlaps with that of another one of the selection target objects arranged adjacent thereto, and

in a state where the one of the selection target objects is selected, when the instruction object is located within the overlapped portion of the selection continuation ranges, the object selecting means maintains the selection state of the one of the selection target objects having been selected.

12. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 10, wherein when the angle calculated by the angle calculating means is fixed, the distance corresponding to the angle calculated by the angle calculating means in a state where one of the selection target objects is selected by the object selecting means is longer than the distance corresponding to the angle calculated by the angle calculating means in a state where one of the selection target objects is not selected by the object selecting means.

13. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 6, wherein

the information processing means includes:

selection confirmation means for confirming selection of one of the selection target objects selected by the object selecting means; and

reference attitude updating means for updating the reference attitude using the attitude of the input device when the selection of the one of the selection target objects is confirmed by the selection confirmation means,

the information processing means performs a process according to the one of the selection target objects whose selection has been confirmed.

14. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 13, wherein the information processing means performs a process according to one of the selection target objects whose selection has been confirmed, based on the reference attitude updated by the reference attitude updating means.

15. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 5, wherein the object displaying means displays the plurality of selection target objects at positions on the display unit, at equal spacings, in a manner as to form a ring shape, the positions being based on the attitudes of the input device corresponding to the selection target objects.

16. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the information processing means includes highlighting means for highlighting, when one of the selection target objects has been selected by the object selecting means, at least the one of the selection target objects having been selected.

17. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 1, wherein

the input device further includes a vibration unit, and

the information processing means causes the vibration unit to vibrate for a predetermined period of time when one of the selection target objects is selected by the object selecting means.

18. The computer readable storage medium having stored therein the information processing program according to claim 1, wherein

the attitude/motion sensor is an angular velocity sensor detecting angular velocities,

the information processing apparatus acquires angular velocity data representing the angular velocities from the input device including the angular velocity sensor,

the data acquisition means acquires the angular velocity data, and

the input attitude calculating means calculates the attitude of the input device in accordance with the angular velocity data acquired by the data acquisition means.

19. An information processing apparatus performing predetermined information processing based on attitude/motion data acquired from an attitude/motion sensor for detecting an attitude or motion of an input device, the information processing apparatus comprising:

correspondence data storage means for storing correspondence data representing correspondence between a plurality of selection target objects and attitudes of the input device;

object displaying means for displaying the plurality of selection target objects on a display unit;

data acquisition means for acquiring the attitude/motion data;

input attitude calculating means for calculating an input attitude, which is an attitude of the input device, in accordance with the attitude/motion data acquired by the data acquisition means;

object selecting means for selecting a selection target object from among the plurality of selection target objects in accordance with the input attitude calculated by the input attitude calculating means and the correspondence data; and

information processing means for performing a process according to the selection target object selected by the object selecting means.

20. An information processing control method for performing predetermined information processing based on attitude/motion data acquired from an attitude/motion sensor for detecting an attitude or motion of an input device, the method for further performing a process according to a selection target object selected from among a plurality of selection target objects, the method comprising:

a correspondence data storage step of storing correspondence data representing correspondence between the plurality of selection target objects and attitudes of the input device;

an object displaying step of displaying the plurality of selection target objects on a display unit;

a data acquisition step of acquiring the attitude/motion data;

an input attitude calculating step of calculating an input attitude, which is an attitude of the input device, in accordance with the attitude/motion data acquired by the data acquisition step;

an object selecting step of selecting a selection target object from among the plurality of selection target objects in accordance with the input attitude calculated by the input attitude calculating step and the correspondence data; and

an information processing step of performing a process according to the selection target object selected by the object selecting step.

21. An information processing system performing predetermined information processing based on attitude/motion data acquired from an attitude/motion sensor for detecting an attitude or motion of an input device, the information processing system comprising:

correspondence data storage means for storing correspondence data representing correspondence between a plurality of selection target objects and attitudes of the input device;

object displaying means for displaying the plurality of selection target objects on a display unit;

data acquisition means for acquiring the attitude/motion data;

input attitude calculating means for calculating an input attitude, which is an attitude of the input device, in accordance with the attitude/motion data acquired by the data acquisition means;

object selecting means for selecting a selection target object from among the plurality of selection target objects in accordance with the input attitude calculated by the input attitude calculating means and the correspondence data; and

information processing means for performing a process according to the selection target object selected by the object selecting means.