Apparatus and method for on-field virtual reality simulation of US football and other sports

• US 8,368,721 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2007
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Anthony Mccoy
• Original Assignee: Anthony Mccoy
• Inventors: McCoy, Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, M Good
• Application Number:
  US11/973,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20090091583A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,949 Days
• Field of Search: 345/633, 463/4, 434/36, 434/37, 434/251, 473/438
• US Class Current: 345/633
• 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 13/216 using geographical information, e.g. location of the game device or player using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/235 using a wireless connection, e.g. infrared or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/245 specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/25 Output arrangements for video game devices
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5372 for tagging characters, objects or locations in the game scene, e.g. displaying a circle under the character controlled by the player
• 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 13/57 Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game A63F13/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/65 automatically by game devices or servers from real world data, e.g. measurement in live racing competition
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/812 Ball games, e.g. soccer or baseball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1012 involving biosensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat, limb activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1031 using a wireless connection, e.g. Bluetooth, infrared connections
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1062 being specially adapted to a type of game, e.g. steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1087 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/30 characterized by output arrangements for receiving control signals generated by the game device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/305 for providing a graphical or textual hint to the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/306 for displaying a marker associated to an object or location in the game field
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5573 : player location
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/64 : for computing dynamical parameters of game objects, e.g. motion determination or computation of frictional forces for a virtual car
• 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 2300/8011 : Ball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8017 : Driving on land or water; Flying
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 : Virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 : Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00

Abstract

An apparatus and method are disclosed for simulating United States football and other sports that are held on a playing field. The user stands in an area that at least approximates an actual playing field, and an apparatus incorporated into a football helmet or other headgear worn by the user superimposes simulation images onto the field of view of the user, creating an illusion of simulated action taking place on the actual field where the user is standing. This makes the information and skills conveyed by the simulation directly relevant and immediately useful. Preferred embodiments track the location and orientation of the user and thereby allow the user to participate in the simulation. In another aspect, essentially the same apparatus and method are used to simulate driving or flying of vehicles without the need of an expensive mockup of the interior of the vehicle.

Claims

1. An apparatus for generating a virtual reality simulation of at least a portion of a sporting event, the simulation including visual images depicting actions of one or more simulated players, the actions of the simulated players appearing from the perspective of a user to be taking place within the three dimensions of an open location physically occupied by the user, the apparatus comprising:

a user interface that enables specification of simulation input parameters that at least partly determine the action depicted by the visual images of the simulation, the simulation parameters including at least one of;

the starting position of at least one simulated player and the intended actions of at least one simulated player;

locating means that can determine user position information regarding location and orientation of the user within the open location, including the orientation of the user'"'"'s head;

a simulation generator, coupled to the user interface, that can generate the visual images of the simulation, the actions of the simulated players depicted by the visual images based at least partly on the simulation parameters and on the user position information, the scale and perspective of the visual images being continuously updated in real-time based on the user position information including the orientation of the user'"'"'s head;

first wireless transceiver means coupled to the simulation generator that can wirelessly receive the user position information transmitted from, and that can further wirelessly transmit the visual images to, a second wireless transceiver means coupled to headgear worn by the user; and

a visual superimposing apparatus attached to the headgear that superimposes the visual images of the generated simulation onto the user'"'"'s real-world field of vision of the open space so that it appears from the user'"'"'s perspective that the one or more simulated players are carrying out their actions within in the three dimensions of the open space physically occupied and viewed by the user and that the user is in the midst of the simulation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user interface can receive at least a portion of its input in the form of a diagrammatic chart of the starting position and intended actions of the one or more simulated players that can be manipulated on a computer screen using at least one of a mouse, a lightpen, and other manipulating means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the generated simulation includes audio content, wherein the first wireless transceiver means can transmit the audio content to the second wireless transceiver means of the user'"'"'s headgear , and wherein the headgear further comprises at least one of:

a speaker and other acoustic devices, that are able to transmit the audio content to the user.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the visual superimposing apparatus comprises at least one partially transmitting mirror that is positioned at an angle in front of at least one of the eyes of the user and wherein at least one image transmitting device is attached to the headgear in such a manner that it can project the visual images onto the at least one partially transmitting mirror, thereby superimposing the visual images onto the user'"'"'s three dimensional real-world field of vision.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the visual superimposing apparatus comprises at least one partially transparent liquid crystal image display that is positioned in front of at least one of the eyes of the user so that it can display the visual images and thereby superimpose them onto the user'"'"'s three dimensional real-world field of vision.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the simulation generator uses artificial intelligence to predict and simulate at least some of the actions of at least one of the simulated players in accordance with pre-specified general rules of behavior.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the locating means includes a LASER triangulation system, comprising:

a plurality of LASER sources placed at a plurality of sites surrounding the open location in which the user is located, the LASER sources being able to project LASER light over the open location in which the user is located;

at least one LASER light detector, attached to the headgear worn by the user, that is able to detect the LASER light from the plurality of LASER sources and is able to determine the direction from which the light from each of the LASER light sources is detected; and

means for determining the position and orientation of the user according to the directions from which the LASER light is detected.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the number of LASER sources is three.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the open location in which the user is located at least approximates a sports playing field, and wherein two of the LASER sources are placed on either side of the field along a line that equally divides the length of the field, and the third LASER source is placed at one end of the field, along a line that equally divides the width of the field.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the simulation generator includes artificial intelligence that enables one or more of the simulated players in accordance with pre-specified rules of behavior, to react substantially in real time to movements and actions of the user that cause changes in the position information.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user'"'"'s headgear further comprises means for calibrating and adjusting at least one of:

the positioning, angles, and scaling of the visual images of the simulation, relative to the actual position and perspective of the user as defined by the position information.

12. A method for generating a virtual reality simulation of at least a portion of a sporting event, that involves a plurality of the simulation including visual images depicting actions performed by one or more simulated players, the actions of the simulated players appearing from a user'"'"'s perspective to be taking place within the three dimensions of an open location where the user is physically located and that the user is in the midst of the simulation, the method comprising:

specifying initial positions of all of the simulated players;

specifying intended actions of at least one of the players;

placing a user at an appropriate location in an open area that at least approximates a playing field appropriate to the sporting event being simulated;

determining position information including location and orientation of the user in the open area including the orientation of the user'"'"'s head;

generating the visual images of the simulation, the actions of the simulated players depicted by the visual images based at least partly on the simulation parameters and on the user position information, said generating further comprising continuously updating in real-time the scale and perspective of the visual images based on the user position information, including the orientation of the user'"'"'s head;

transmitting wirelessly the visual images to receiving means attached to headgear worn by the user, the headgear being equipped with visual image presentation means that is able to superimpose the visual images onto the real-world field of view of the user;

superimposing the visual images onto the user'"'"'s real-world field of view of the open area, such that the simulation appears to take place within the three dimensions of the open space to give the user the illusion of being in the midst of the simulation; and

calibrating the position, orientation, and scaling of the visual images within the field of view of the user so that the visual images are properly scaled based on the position, orientation, and location of the user within the open area.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein:

said specifying the actions of at least one of the players further comprises establishing general rules of behavior for the at last one player; and

said generating further comprises predicting actions of the at least one player in the context of the simulation parameters and according to the general rules of behavior using principals of artificial intelligence.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said generating further comprises predicting actions of the at least one simulated player in response to actions of the user in the context of the simulation parameters, the determined position information and in accordance with the general rules of behavior using principals of artificial intelligence.

15. An apparatus for creating virtual reality simulations, including visual images associated with the operation of user controlled simulated vehicles, including race cars, trucks, tanks, flying aircraft, and spacecraft, the images creating a specified environment that can include one or more other simulated vehicles or moving components that perform intended actions, and for superimposing the visual images onto the field of view of the user, the apparatus comprising:

a user interface that;

enables specification of simulation input parameters that at least partly determine the specified environment and the intended actions of at least one simulated vehicle or component that is part of the specified environment; and

enables specifying general rules of behavior for the at least one vehicle or component;

locating means that can determine the orientation of the user'"'"'s head;

a simulation generator that can generate a simulation of the specified environment and the intended actions of the at least one simulated vehicle or component of the specified environment, the simulation generated based on the simulation input parameters and the orientation of the user'"'"'s head, wherein;

the simulation includes visual images of the specified environment including the at least one simulated vehicle or component performing its intended actions, the specified environment including views through windows and windscreens and images of an enclosing environment that would surround a vehicle operator in a real-life situation; and

the simulation generator includes artificial intelligence that uses the specified general rules of behavior to predict how the at least one simulated vehicle or component will react, substantially in real time, to the movements and actions of a simulated vehicle controlled directly by the user while otherwise performing its intended actions;

wireless transmission means that can transmit the visual images by wireless means to headgear worn by the user of the simulation;

a visual superimposing apparatus attached to the headgear that is able to superimpose the visual images onto the user'"'"'s field of vision; and

control apparatus of a shape and style appropriate to the activity being simulated for transmitting to the simulation generator, signals representing desired movements and actions of the user'"'"'s simulated vehicle, the signals generated in response to control actions performed by the user on the control apparatus.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the control apparatus includes a steering wheel.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the control apparatus includes a flight control stick.