Video game apparatus, video game controlling program, and video game controlling method

• US 9,492,748 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2011
• Issued: 11/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Sega
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Sega
• Inventors: Suzuki, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Hylinski, Steven J
• Application Number:
  US13/700,786
• Publication Number:
  US 20130084982A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,007 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 13/215 comprising means for detecting acoustic signals, e.g. using a microphone
• 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 13/5375 for graphically or textually suggesting an action, e.g. by displaying an arrow indicating a turn in a driving game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1093 using visible light
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• 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: G06V 10/507 Summing image-intensity values; Histogram projection analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/103 Static body considered as a whole, e.g. static pedestrian or occupant recognition

Abstract

A video game apparatus includes a depth sensor configured to capture an area where a player exists and acquire depth information for each pixel of the image; and a gesture recognition unit configured to divide the image into a plurality of sections, to calculate statistics information of the depth information for each of the plurality of sections, and to recognize a gesture of the player based on the statistics information.

Claims

1. A video game apparatus comprising:

a depth sensor configured to capture an area where a player exists and acquire depth information for each pixel of an image including a silhouette of the player; and

a gesture recognition unit configured

to divide the image so as to divide the silhouette of the player into a plurality of sections of the image,

to calculate statistics information for each of the plurality of sections, and

to recognize a gesture of the player based on the statistics information, the statistics information including

an area value, which is a ratio of an area occupied by a divided part of the silhouette of the player in the corresponding section relative to an area of the corresponding section, and

depth information of the divided part of the silhouette of the player in the corresponding section.

2. The video game apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the gesture recognition unit calculates an area center of the silhouette of the player in the image and divides the image into the plurality of sections.

5. The video game apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the gesture recognition unit prompts the player to take a plurality of postures and calculates a correction parameter for individual postures.

3. A non-transitory video game controlling program causing a computer to execute the steps of:

capturing, by a depth sensor of a video game apparatus, an area where a player exists and acquiring, by the depth sensor, depth information for each pixel of an image including a silhouette of the player; and

dividing, by a gesture recognition unit of the video game apparatus, the image so as to divide the silhouette of the player into a plurality of sections of the image, calculating, by the gesture recognition unit, statistics information for each of the plurality of sections, and recognizing, by the gesture recognition unit, a gesture of the player based on the statistics information, the statistics information including an area value, which is a ratio of an area occupied by a divided part of the silhouette of the player in the corresponding section relative to an area of the corresponding section, and depth information of the divided part of the silhouette of the player in the corresponding section.

4. A video game controlling method comprising:

capturing, by a depth sensor of a video game apparatus, an area where a player exists and acquiring, by the depth sensor, depth information for each pixel of an image including a silhouette of the player; and

dividing, by a gesture recognition unit of the video game apparatus, the image so as to divide the silhouette of the player into a plurality of sections of the image, calculating, by the gesture recognition unit, statistics information for each of the plurality of sections, and recognizing, by the gesture recognition unit, a gesture of the player based on the statistics information, the statistics information including an area value, which is a ratio of an area occupied by a divided part of the silhouette of the player in the corresponding section relative to an area of the corresponding section, and depth information of the divided part of the silhouette of the player in the corresponding section.