Imaging apparatus and method of same

• US 6,476,378 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2000
• Issued: 11/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Segawa, Hiroyuki, Nougaret, Jean-Luc
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Robert H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ho, Allen C
• Application Number:
  US09/734,252
• Publication Number:
  US 20020020807A1
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• Field of Search: 250/208.1, 250/216, 250/227.11, 250/227.2, 250/227.31, 385/116, 385/120, 345/173, 345/174, 345/175, 345/176, 345/177, 345/181
• US Class Current: 250/227.11
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00643 Electric board games; Electric features of board games electric word or number games A63F3/0421; computer chess G06F; electric raffle games A63F3/081
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/06 the relative position of the fibres being the same at both ends, e.g. for transporting images
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0393 Accessories for touch pads or touch screens, e.g. mechanical guides added to touch screens for drawing straight lines, hard keys overlaying touch screens or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 9/305 being the ends of optical fibres G09F9/302 takes precedence

Abstract

An imaging apparatus optically extruding parts of a screen image and outputting the extruded images from surfaces different in dimension from the screen surface, wherein a set of image guides formed by bundles of optical fibers placed on the surface of the screen extrude portions of the image displayed on the screen and radiate the extruded images from opposite surfaces different in dimension from the surface of the screen. When some image or a video stream are displayed on the screen, image features are modified so that the extruded portions are displayed on the surfaces of the image guides properly in response to the positions and orientations of the image guides. When the imaging apparatus is equipped to track the positions and orientations of the image guides in real-time, a user can interact with an image animation by moving the image guides.

Claims

1. An imaging apparatus comprising:

a display device having a screen on which an image is displayed,

an optical device placed on the surface of the screen, receiving a portion of the image displayed on the surface of the screen at one end, and outputting the received image to another end which is different in dimension from the surface of the screen,

a sensor for acquiring a position and orientation of the optical device over the screen, and

an image synthesis processor for generating an image of a character to be displayed on the screen and adding the image of the character to the image of a background in a predetermined position and with a predetermined orientation in response to the position and orientation of the optical device acquired by the sensor.

2. A method for optically extruding a portion of an image displayed on a screen and displaying the extruded image on a surface different in dimension from the surface of the screen by using an optical device placed on the surface of the screen, receiving a portion of the image displayed on the surface of the screen at one end, and outputting the received image to another end which is different in dimension from the screen surface, comprising:

a step of a sensing process for acquiring a position and orientation of the optical device over the screen,

a step of an image synthesis process for generating an image of a character, adding the image of the character to a background image at a position and with an orientation in response to the position and orientation of the optical device, and

a step of a process for displaying the synthesized image on the screen.