Hand-held electronic device

• US 9,693,039 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2011
• Issued: 06/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Umezu, Ryuji, Sugino, Kenichi, Akifusa, Yusuke, Konno, Hideki
• Primary Examiner(s): He, Weiming
• Application Number:
  US13/049,581
• Publication Number:
  US 20110292033A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,295 Days
• Field of Search: 345419, 345173, 348 47
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1692 the I/O peripheral being a secondary touch screen used as control interface, e.g. virtual buttons or sliders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/239 using two 2D image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance H04N13/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/30 Image reproducers optical systems for producing stereoscopic or other three-dimensional effects G02B30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/302 for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/359 Switching between monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof

Abstract

A hand-held electronic device (10) includes an upper housing (21) and a lower housing (11) which are foldable. An upper LCD (22) capable of displaying an image which is stereoscopically visible with naked eyes is provided on an inner side surface of the upper housing (21).

Claims

1. A hand-held electronic device comprising:

a first housing and a second housing that are configured so as to be foldable with respect to each other;

a stereoscopic display that is integrated into the first housing and configured to display an image which is stereoscopically visible;

a parallax adjustment portion disposed on either the first or second housing, the parallax adjustment portion physically movable between at least first and second positions so as to adjust a parallax of the stereoscopic display in accordance therewith; and

a processing system that includes at least one processor, the processing system configured to;

adjust a distance between two virtual cameras, which are located in a virtual space, in accordance with position of the physically moveable parallax adjustment portion; and

switch the stereoscopic display to a non-stereoscopic display mode in response to determining the parallax adjustment portion is at the second position.

2. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second housing is provided with an operation section.

3. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first housing is provided with a pair of imaging sections capable of stereoscopic shooting.

4. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the pair of imaging sections are arranged so as to be horizontally symmetrical with respect to a center of a screen of the stereoscopic display section.

5. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first housing is provided with three imaging sections.

6. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 5, wherein two of the three imaging sections are arranged so as to be horizontally symmetrical with respect to a center of a screen of the stereoscopic display section.

7. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 5, wherein one of the three imaging sections is aligned with a center of a screen of the stereoscopic display section in the horizontal direction.

8. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the three imaging sections are aligned along the horizontal direction of the stereoscopic display section.

9. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the three imaging sections are assembled as a single unit, and the unit is housed in a storage section in the first housing.

10. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the three imaging sections are arranged so that the imaging directions of two of the three imaging sections are in the same direction, and the imaging direction of the other one imaging section is reverse to the direction.

11. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 5, wherein two of the three imaging sections enable stereoscopic shooting, and the stereoscopic display section displays a stereoscopic image by using images taken by and outputted from the two imaging sections.

12. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the second housing is provided with a shutter button for stereoscopic shooting.

13. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the shutter button for stereoscopic shooting is provided on both ends of an upper surface of the second housing.

14. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first housing includes the parallax adjustment portion.

15. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 14, further comprising:

a plurality of user controls, one of which is the parallax adjustment portion, disposed on the first and second housing,

wherein the first housing only includes, among the plurality of user controls, the parallax adjustment portion.

16. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 14, wherein the second housing is provided with an analog direction switch.

17. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second housing is provided with a touch panel.

18. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 17, wherein the stereoscopic display section is not provided with a touch panel function.

19. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second housing is provided with a touch screen.

20. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 19, wherein the size of the screen of the stereoscopic display section is greater than the size of the touch screen.

21. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 19, wherein an operation section is provided to the right and the left of the touch screen in the second housing.

22. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an operation section is provided on an upper side surface of the second housing.

23. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an operation section is provided on both ends of an upper side surface of the second housing.

24. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first housing is provided with a light-emitting section for stereoscopic display, which indicates a display mode of the stereoscopic display section.

25. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 24, wherein the first housing includes, as a light-emitting section, only the light-emitting section for stereoscopic display.

26. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 24, wherein the second housing is provided with a light-emitting section for a power supply, which indicates the state of the power supply.

27. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 24, wherein the second housing is provided with a light-emitting section for wireless communication, which indicates the state of wireless communication.

28. The hand-held electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first housing and the second housing each have a horizontally long shape, and are connected to each other at long side portions thereof, and the stereoscopic display section has a horizontally long screen, and a long side portion of the screen is arranged along the long side portion of the first housing.

29. The hand-held electronic device of claim 1, wherein the parallax adjustment portion adjusts the parallax by producing signals that electronically control positions of pixels of a right-eye image relative to pixels of a left-eye image.

30. The hand-held electronic device of claim 1, wherein the parallax adjustment portion adjusts the parallax by electronically controlling positions of right eye pixels relative to left-eye pixels.

31. The hand-held electronic device of claim 1, wherein the stereoscopic display includes a parallax barrier and the switch to the non-stereoscopic display mode disables the parallax barrier.

32. The hand-held electronic device of claim 1, wherein:

the parallax adjustment portion is physically movable between at least the first position, the second position, and a third position,

movement of the parallax adjustment portion between the first position and the second position causes a switch between the non-stereoscopic display mode and a stereoscopic display mode,

movement to different positions of the parallax adjustment portion between the first position and the third position causes an amount of the parallax to be adjusted in accordance therewith.

33. The hand-held electronic device of claim 32, wherein a protrusion is disposed between the first position and second position and requires application of a predetermined amount of force to move the parallax adjustment portion past the protrusion.

34. A hand-held electronic device comprising:

a housing with a handheld form-factor;

a stereoscopic display integrated into a main surface of the housing and configured to display image(s) in a stereoscopically visible manner;

a pair of imagers provided in the housing and configured for stereoscopic shooting;

a parallax adjustment user control disposed with the housing and including a physically movable member for adjustment by a user between at least a first position and a second position, the parallax adjustment user control configured to send an electrical signal that represents a location of the physically movable member; and

a processing system that includes at least one processor electrically coupled to the parallax adjustment user control, the processing system configured to;

recognize the electrical signal sent from the parallax adjustment user control that represents the location of the physically movable member;

set a distance between two virtual cameras, which are located in a virtual space, as a function of the represented location of the physically movable member; and

in response to a determination that the represented location of the physically movable member is in the first position, instruct the stereoscopic display to switch to a display mode where images displayed by the stereoscopic display are display in a non-stereoscopic manner.

35. The hand-held electronic device of claim 34, wherein the pair of imagers are positioned in a shooting direction that is opposite to a normal direction of the display surface of the stereoscopic display.

36. A hand-held electronic device comprising:

a first housing and a second housing configured so as to be foldable with respect to each other;

a stereoscopic display configured to display image(s) which are stereoscopically visible;

a parallax operation adjustment structure that is movable between at least two different physical positions, wherein, in one of the at least two different physical positions, the stereoscopic display is set to display image(s) in a non-stereoscopic manner, wherein a parallax of the stereoscopic display is adjusted based on the position of the parallax operation adjustment structure; and

a processing system that includes at least one processor, the processing system configured to set a distance between two virtual cameras, which are located in a virtual space, as a function of a position of the parallax operation adjustment structure.

37. The hand-held electronic device of claim 36, wherein the at least two different physical positions includes a first physical position, a second physical position, and a third physical position,

wherein movement of the parallax operation adjustment structure to the third position causes the stereoscopic display to enter a planar display mode that displays the images in the non-stereoscopic manner,

wherein movement of the parallax operation adjustment structure between the first and second physical positions variably adjusts an amount of parallax in accordance with a position of the parallax operation adjustment structure.

38. A hand-held electronic device comprising:

a first housing and a second housing configured to fold with respect to each other;

a first display provided with the first housing, the first display being a stereoscopic display and configured to display an image that is stereoscopically visible;

a second display provided with the second housing;

a parallax adjustment control disposed on either the first or second housing and that is physically movable between at least first and second physical positions so as to adjust a parallax of the stereoscopic display in accordance therewith, the parallax adjustment control configured to generate a signal when located in the first position that is used to switch the first display into a non-stereoscopic mode so that images displayed thereon are displayed in a planar manner; and

a processing system that includes at least one processor, the processing system configured to;

position a first virtual camera in a virtual space;

position a second virtual camera in the virtual space;

adjust at least a position of the first and/or second virtual cameras so that a distance, within the virtual space, between the first and second virtual cameras is adjusted based on concurrent received user input;

generate first and second images of the virtual space based on the first and second virtual cameras; and

output the first and second images for display on the first display.

39. The hand-held electronic device of claim 38, wherein the second display is a touch enabled display.

40. A hand-held electronic device comprising:

a first housing and a second housing that are foldable with respect to each other;

a first display provided with the first housing, the first display being a stereoscopic display and configured to display an image that is stereoscopically visible;

a touch panel provided with the second housing;

a parallax adjustment control disposed on either the first or second housing and that is configured to be physically adjustable between at least first and second positions so as to adjust a parallax of the stereoscopic display in accordance therewith; and

a processing system that includes at least one processor, the processing system configured to;

control the stereoscopic display to display image(s) in a non-stereoscopic manner in response to a determination that the parallax adjustment control is in the first position; and

locate, in a virtual space, a first virtual camera and a second virtual camera at a distance from each other that is a function of a position of the parallax adjustment control.