Background image acquisition method, video game apparatus, background image acquisition program, and computer-readable medium containing computer program

• US 7,785,201 B2
• Filed: 09/02/2005
• Issued: 08/31/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SEGA Corporation (SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SEGA Corporation (SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc.)
• Inventors: Hashimoto, Yoshihisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo; Peter DungBa
• Assistant Examiner(s): DUFFY, DAVID W
• Application Number:
  US11/219,377
• Publication Number:
  US 20060046846A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,824 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1, 463/36, 345/158, 382/284, 382/294
• US Class Current: 463/36
• 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 13/42 by mapping the input signals into game commands, e.g. mapping the displacement of a stylus on a touch screen to the steering angle of a virtual vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5375 for graphically or textually suggesting an action, e.g. by displaying an arrow indicating a turn in a driving game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/655 by importing photos, e.g. of the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1087 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1093 using visible light
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/305 for providing a graphical or textual hint to the player
• 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 2300/69 Involving elements of the real world in the game world, e.g. measurement in live races, real video
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/695 Imported photos, e.g. of the player

Abstract

A background image acquisition technique is disclosed for acquiring a background image that is required for calculating a background difference in a video game that uses an input image supplied by a camera while enabling command input through image recognition of a player image. The background image acquisition technique involves compositing a button item for responding to an operation of a player with a portion of an image captured by the camera which captured image includes a player image representing the posture of the player, displaying the composite image on a monitor screen, guiding the player into position such that the player image is accommodated within said portion of the captured image, and acquiring an image of a region of the captured image other than said portion as the background image.

Claims

1. A background image acquisition method for acquiring a background image that is required for calculating a background difference in a video game that uses an input image supplied by a camera, the method comprising the steps of:

compositing a button item for responding to an operation of a player with a portion of a frame image captured by the camera which captured frame image includes a player image representing a posture of the player;

displaying the composite image on a monitor screen;

defining a first region and a second region of the captured frame image to be acquired as the background image;

wherein the first region includes a first section and the second region includes a second section,

guiding the player into position such that the player image is accommodated within said portion of the captured frame image;

overlapping a section of one region with a section of the second region for making a determination as to whether the camera has moved or a moving object has been captured in the background image based on the extent of any image difference between the overlapping sections of the two regions with the determination of movement being made before acquiring an image of a region of the captured image as the background image other than said portion,

wherein the method further comprises the steps of;

determining if the camera has moved and/or if movement of an object captured in the region for the background image has occurred by determining whether a color difference above a predetermined level is detected between the overlapping sections of the two regions; and

if it is determined that movement has resulted from either of the movement of the camera or the movement of an object captured in the region for the background image, displaying an error indicative of a detected movement on the monitor screen such that the background difference can be calculated without detected movement.

2. The background image acquisition method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

acquiring a first image of the first region and a second image of the second region as the background image.

3. The background image acquisition method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising the step of:

outputting a message for prompting reinitiation of the background image acquisition upon determining that the camera has moved from a time of acquiring the first image of the first region to a time of acquiring the second image of the second region.

4. The background image acquisition method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

determining whether the camera has moved based on an image difference between the first section of the first region and the second section of the second region.

5. The background image acquisition method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the region of the captured image other than said portion includes a right side region and a left side region of the captured image;

and

a right side image of the right side region and a left side image of the left side region are acquired as the back ground image.

6. The background image acquisition method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a step of:

halting the background image acquisition and outputting a message for prompting reinitiation of the background image acquisition upon determining that a moving object is included in the region of the captured image for acquiring the background image.

7. The background image acquisition method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a step of:

determining whether a moving object is included in the region of the captured image for acquiring the background image based on a frame difference of the image of the region.

8. A video game apparatus that is configured to execute a video game that uses an input image supplied by a camera, the apparatus comprising:

a background image storage part for storing a background image acquired from the camera;

a background difference calculation part for calculating a background difference between a current image presently captured by the camera and the background image previously stored in the image storage part;

a background difference determining part for determining whether there is a background difference in a predetermined region;

an operations part for compositing a button item for responding to an operation of a player with a portion of a frame image captured by the camera in the image storage part which captured frame image includes a player image representing a posture of the player, displaying the composite image on a monitor screen, wherein said background difference calculation part includes a part for defining a first region and a second region of the captured frame image to be acquired as the background image in which the first region includes a first section and the second region includes a second section;

a part for guiding the player into position such that the player image is accommodated within said portion of the captured frame image;

wherein said background difference determining part includes a movement determining part for overlapping a section of one region with a section of the second region for making a determination as to whether the camera has moved or a moving object has been captured in the background image based upon detecting whether a color difference above a predetermined level is detected between the overlapping sections of the two regions; and

a background acquiring part for acquiring an image of a region of the captured image as the background image other than said portion based on the image difference between the overlapping sections of the two regions,

wherein the apparatus further comprises;

an error displaying part responsive to said movement determining part for displaying an error on the monitor screen if it is determined that the detected movement has resulted from either of the movement of the camera or the movement of an object captured in the region for the background image.

9. The video game apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein

a first image of the first region and a second image of the second region are acquired as the background image.

10. The video game apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein

the region of the captured image other than said portion includes a left side region and a right side region of the captured image, and a left side image of the left side region and a right side image of the right side region are acquired as the background image.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing a program run on a computer for acquiring a background image that is required for calculating a background difference in a video game that uses an input image supplied by the camera, the program being executed by the computer to realize the functions of:

compositing a button item for responding to an operation of a player with a portion of a frame image captured by the camera in a background image storage part of the computer for storing a background image acquired from the camera which captured image includes a player image representing a posture of the player, displaying the composite image on a monitor screen, defining a first region and a second region of the captured frame image to be acquired as the background image, and guiding the player into position such that the player image is accommodated within said portion of the captured frame image;

overlapping a section of one region with a section of the second region for making a determination as to whether the camera has moved or a moving object has been captured in the background image based upon detecting a color image difference between the overlapping sections of the two regions above a predetermined level and before acquiring an image of a region of the captured image as the background image other than said portion,

wherein the program further comprises the functions of;

determining from the detected movement whether the detected movement has resulted from movement of the camera and/or movement of an object captured in the region for the background image; and

if it is determined that the detected movement has resulted from either of the movement of the camera or the movement of an object captured in the region for the background image, displaying an error on the monitor screen.

12. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 11, wherein

a first image of the first region and a second image of the second region are acquired as the background image.

13. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 11, wherein the region of the captured image other than said portion includes a left side region and a right side region of the captured image, and a left side image of the left side region and a right side image of the right side region are acquired as the background image.