METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING VIRTUAL WORLD

• US 20130093665A1
• Filed: 04/06/2011
• Published: 04/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Won Chul Bang
• Inventors: Han, Jae Joon, Han, Seung Ju, Bang, Won Chul, Kim, Do Kyoon
• Granted Patent: US 9,597,592 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/212 using sensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat or leg activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/23 for interfacing with the game device, e.g. specific interfaces between game controller and console
• 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 13/56 Computing the motion of game characters with respect to other game characters, game objects or elements of the game scene, e.g. for simulating the behaviour of a group of virtual soldiers or for path finding
• 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 2300/1012 involving biosensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat, limb activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1025 details of the interface with the game device, e.g. USB version detection
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5553 user representation in the game field, e.g. avatar
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/65 for computing the condition of a game character
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00

Abstract

A virtual world processing apparatus and method. An angle value is obtained by measuring an angle of a body part of a user of a real world using sensor capability, which is information on capability of a bending sensor, and is transmitted to a virtual world, thereby achieving interaction between the real world and the virtual world. In addition, based on the sensor capability and the angle value denoting the angle of the body part, control information is generated to control a part of an avatar of the virtual world, corresponding to the body part, and then transmitted to the virtual world. Accordingly, interaction between the real world and the virtual world is achieved.

Claims

1. A virtual world processing apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit to receive an angle value, sensed by a bending sensor, of at least one sensed location and sensor capability of the bending sensor;

a processing unit to generate control information for controlling an object of a virtual world corresponding to the at least one sensed location, based on the received angle value and the sensor capability; and

a transmission unit to transmit the control information to the virtual world.

2. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor capability comprises a maximum value and a minimum value of the angle value measurable by the bending sensor.

3. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing unit generates the control information when the angle value is less than or equal to the maximum value and is greater than or equal to the minimum value.

4. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor capability comprises a number of the at least one sensed location.

5. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor capability comprises a distance between the at least one sensed location.

6. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the received angle value is a sum total of a plurality of angle values measured by a plurality of the bending sensors when the plurality of the bending sensors measure the angle values with respect to the at least one sensed location.

7. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a calculation unit to calculate a third angle value related to a third sensed location disposed between a first sensed location and a second sensed location, based on a first angle value related to the first sensed location, sensed by a first bending sensor, and a second angle value related to the second sensed location, sensed by a second bending sensor, and

wherein the processing unit generates the control information based on the first angle value, the second angle value, the third angle value, and the sensor capability.

8. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor capability comprises metadata encoded into a binary format.

9. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the metadata encoded into the binary format comprises a data field related to at least one attribute selected from a number of locations, a number of axes, and a number of sensors.

14. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the plurality of bending sensors simultaneously measure the at least one sensed location.

15. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the third angle value is calculated as an average of the first angle value and the second angle value.

16. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sensor capability further comprises an accuracy and an offset.

17. The virtual world processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the bending sensor generates the metadata by encoding the sensor capability into the binary format.

10. A virtual world processing method, comprising:

receiving an angle value, sensed by a bending sensor, of at least one sensed location and sensor capability of the bending sensor;

generating control information for controlling an object of a virtual world corresponding to the at least one sensed location, based on the received angle value and the sensor capability; and

transmitting the control information to the virtual world.

11. The virtual world processing method of claim 10, wherein the angle value is a sum total of a plurality of angle values measured by a plurality of the bending sensors when the plurality of the bending sensors measure the angle values with respect to the at least one sensed location.

12. The virtual world processing method of claim 10, further comprising calculating a third angle value related to a third sensed location disposed between a first sensed location and a second sensed location, based on a first angle value related to the first sensed location, sensed by a first bending sensor, and a second angle value related to the second sensed location, sensed by a second bending sensor, and

wherein the generating generates the control information based on the first angle value, the second angle value, the third angle value, and the sensor capability.

13. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a program to cause a computer to implement the method of claim 10.

18. A method of interacting between a real world and a virtual world, the method comprising:

sensing angle values, by plural bending sensors, respectively disposed at plural sensed locations of a user; and

generating control information for controlling an avatar of a virtual world corresponding to the plural sensed locations, based on the sensed angle values and sensor capability.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the sensor capability comprises information related to a capability of a bending sensor of the plural bending sensors.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the information related to a capability of the bending sensor comprises a maximum measurable angle value, a minimum measureable angle value, a number of the sensed locations, and a distance between the sensed locations.