JP2010137097A - Game machine and information storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine which reduces the number of processes required to detect or identify actions of a player, while offering a game proceeding in accordance with the player's bodily movements. <P>SOLUTION: Among the player actions detected by an image sensor 20, those determined as acceptable by an acceptable level determining section 120 are compared with given subjective action, by a similarity determining section 116, to determine their similarity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a game device and the like.

  2. Description of the Related Art A video game device including an imaging device such as a CCD camera is known as a game device that allows a player to enjoy a game using the whole body. In such a video game device, first, the player is imaged by the imaging device. Then, a feature extraction process is performed in which the background is removed from the photographed image and only the player is extracted, and then the shape (body shape) and operation of the player are recognized using the image subjected to the feature extraction process.

  An example of such a video game apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-155467. In the video game apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-155467, an instruction pattern with white or red is displayed near the four corners of the screen, and the player who has seen the instruction pattern holds it in his left and right hands. A flag raising game is performed in which the white or red flag is raised and lowered to determine whether the instruction pattern matches the flag color raised or lowered by the player.

  Such conventional video game devices have the following technical problems. That is, since the player is picked up by a CCD camera, it takes a lot of calculation time for feature extraction processing for detecting the player's movement, and it is difficult to achieve the processing speed required for game execution. Is a point. For this reason, the recognition (pattern recognition) of the flag raising / lowering of the player in the video game apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-155467 is based on whether or not the flag color data exceeds a predetermined (area) in a given area. The player's motion itself is not detected.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-128534 discloses an attitude detection game apparatus as a conventional technique that speeds up processing by setting and limiting a region to be discriminated among images captured by a CCD camera. . In the posture detection game apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-128534, first, an image signal is displayed in accordance with the approximate area of a player (expressed as “human body” in the publication) in a captured image. A plurality of areas for detecting the signal strength are set. Next, a posture detection area corresponding to “punch forward”, “kick backward”, or the like is set. Then, based on the signal strength of the player in each signal strength detection region, it is determined which posture has been taken.

  In this attitude detection game device, the player's attitude is determined based on the strength of the imaging signal in a specific area, so that the processing speed can be improved. However, there are the following technical problems. It was. In other words, the determination of the player's posture is performed based on the intensity of the imaging signal. For example, a state where the player is simply reaching out is misidentified as “punch forward” or the player actually In spite of punching, the intensity of the image signal is weak due to quick movement, and it is determined that “the punch is not made”, and it is necessary to specify the region for posture detection. For this reason, there is a problem that only a limited number of postures can be discriminated. For this reason, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-128534 is applied to a game device that allows a player to enjoy the game happily using the whole body and put into practical use for recognizing the player's operation. Was extremely difficult.

JP-A-7-155467 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-128534

  As described above, in the video game device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-155467, the player's action is determined based on whether or not there is a flag in a given area. In the posture detection game apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-128534, there is a problem that it is difficult to recognize the movements of the players because only a limited number of the postures of the players are discriminated. .

  An object of the present invention is to reduce processing required for detecting or identifying a motion of a player, and to allow a game to proceed in accordance with the movement using the whole body of the player.

  A first form for solving the above-described problems is provided with motion detection means (for example, the image sensor 20 in FIG. 6) for detecting the motion of the player, and the player motion detected by the motion detection means. Based on this, a game device for executing a given game for determining an allowable range to be operated (for example, a range within the allowable range 120a of FIG. 10 and outside the mask range 120b). Of the player actions detected by the range determining means (for example, the allowable range determining unit 120 in FIG. 6) and the action detecting means, the player actions within the allowable range are compared with the given question action. A game apparatus comprising similarity determination means (for example, the similarity determination unit 116 in FIG. 6) for determining similarity.

  According to the first aspect, it is possible to specify an operation that is a determination target of similarity. Therefore, the efficiency and speed of the determination process for the player's operation can be improved, and the game can be progressed according to the movement of the player using the whole body. Further, it is possible to realize a game that does not impair the real-time property without causing a processing delay such as inputting the player's motion once and then performing processing based on the motion. As described in the embodiment, the permissible range may be only the range within the permissible range 120a shown in FIG. 10, all the ranges outside the mask range 120b may be permissible ranges, or the permissible range 120a. The range may be within and outside the mask range 120b.

  Further, as a second mode, the game device according to the first mode further comprises detection area determining means for determining a plurality of detection areas (for example, the first to fourth areas in FIG. 22) in the allowable range, The similarity determination means may determine the similarity for each detection area by comparing the action of the player corresponding to the detection area with the given questioning action corresponding to the detection area.

  According to the second embodiment, a plurality of detection areas are determined within the allowable range, and the similarity is determined for each detection area. Therefore, the determination of the similarity is facilitated, and the processing in the determination of the similarity is performed. The speed can be increased.

  As a third mode, in the game device according to the first or second mode, the range determination unit determines the allowable range according to a given condition detected by the motion detection unit. Also good.

  In this case, as the fourth form, the given condition may be a condition related to the body shape of the player detected by the motion detection means, and as the fifth form, the desired condition is It may be the position of the player detected by the motion detection means.

  According to the third to fifth embodiments, since the allowable range is determined according to a given condition detected by the motion detection means, it is possible to reduce troublesome work such as operation input by the player. . Further, according to the fourth embodiment, it is possible to remove factors that are advantageous / disadvantageous depending on the player's body shape. Further, according to the fifth embodiment, even if the player moves the position in the middle of the game, the allowable range is determined according to the position. In other words, the question moving operation is to move the position. Can do.

  Further, as a sixth form, in the game device of the first or second form, the given game is a game based on actions of a plurality of players detected by the action detecting means, and the range determining means May determine the permissible range corresponding to each player in accordance with the position of each player detected by the motion detection means (for example, FIG. 18 or FIG. 19).

  According to the sixth embodiment, in a multiplayer game, an allowable range is determined for each player. For example, the superiority or inferiority of actions performed simultaneously among players can be immediately known, It is possible to obtain an evaluation of the actions of all players, such as play.

  As a seventh aspect, in the game device according to the first or second aspect, the range determination means determines the allowable range according to the progress of the given game or the type of the given game. It is good to do.

  Here, the game progress refers to a general game progress such as a transition from the game stage to the game stage, and the game type refers to the type of game itself such as a dance game or a gesture game. In addition, it is intended to include game types according to the number of players, such as a game for a plurality of players.

  According to the seventh embodiment, according to the progress of the game, for example, in the game type in which the allowable range is changed widely for each game stage or the movement such as line dance is a given questioning action, It is possible to set the allowable range focusing on the movement of the.

  As an eighth aspect, in the game device according to the first or second aspect, the range determination unit may determine the allowable range according to the similarity determined by the similarity determination unit. Good.

  According to the eighth embodiment, for example, when the determination result of the similarity is good, the allowable range is narrowed, and the movement to be determined may be limited to cope with the advanced player in the game. Further, the allowable range may be expanded.

  As a ninth mode, in the game device according to any one of the first to eighth modes, the motion detection means may detect the motion of the player using an artificial retina chip.

  According to the ninth aspect, since the motion detection means detects the motion of the player using the artificial retina chip, it can easily perform processing such as feature extraction processing related to the detection, and Since the processing can be distributed, the processing of the entire apparatus can be speeded up.

  The tenth embodiment is an information storage medium storing computer-executable software including an operation detection means for detecting the operation of the player, and includes information related to a given question operation, Of the range determination information for determining the target allowable range and the player motion detected by the motion detection means, the player motion within the allowable range is similar to the given question motion. The information storage medium includes similarity determination information for determining the degree.

  The eleventh embodiment is an information storage medium storing computer-executable software having a motion detection means for detecting the motion of the player, and includes information relating to a given questioning motion and motion The range determination information for determining a mask range that is not a target and the player's motion detected by the motion detection means are similar to the player's motion outside the mask range compared to the given question motion. The information storage medium includes similarity determination information for determining the degree.

  According to the tenth or eleventh aspect, it is possible to specify an operation that is a determination target of similarity. Therefore, the efficiency and speed of the determination process for the player's operation can be improved, and the game can be progressed according to the movement of the player using the whole body. Further, it is possible to realize a game that does not impair the real-time property without causing a processing delay such as inputting the player's motion once and then performing processing based on the motion.

It is an external appearance front view of the housing | casing of the game device 700 for business to which this invention is applied. It is sectional drawing of the business game device 700 to which this invention is applied. It is an example of one screen in a storage mode. It is an example of one screen in dance mode. It is an example of one screen in dance mode. It is an example of the functional block diagram in the game device of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the character action data 534. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of determination criterion data 536. FIG. It is a figure which shows the player who is moving limbs etc. in order to determine an allowable range. It is a figure which shows the tolerance | permissible_range 120a and the mask range 120b determined based on the image of the player of FIG. It is a figure which shows the tolerance | permissible_range 120a and mask range 120b when a player moves from a center position. It is a figure which shows the scene where the player extended the hand which had extended. It is a figure which shows the motion vector with respect to operation | movement of the player of FIG. It is a figure which shows the specified motion vector among the motion vectors of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing operation in the game device of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of the hardware which can implement | achieve this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the apparatus of the various forms with which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows an example which applies this invention to 2 player play. It is a figure which shows an example which applies this invention to 2 player play. It is a figure which shows an example which applies this invention to 2 player play. It is a figure which shows an example which applies this invention to a play of multiple persons. It is a figure which shows the application example at the time of dividing | segmenting a tolerance | permissible_range into a several area | region. It is a figure which shows the example of the criterion data 536 when an allowable range is divided | segmented into several area | region. It is a figure which shows the example of the motion vector specified when an allowable range is divided | segmented into a some area | region.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, a case where the present invention is applied to a dance game will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  1 and 2 are diagrams showing an example of a business game apparatus 700 to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 is an external front view of the case of the game apparatus 700, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the game apparatus 700 showing the positional relationship between the player 800, the image sensor 720 provided in the case, and the display 730. is there.

  The game device 700 includes an image sensor 720 for detecting the operation of the player 800, a display 730 for displaying a game screen, an operation unit 710 for inputting a game start instruction and the like, and a dance BGM and rhythm. A speaker 740 for outputting sound or the like for capturing and a light 760 for illumination are provided. The game apparatus 700 determines whether or not the movement of the player 800 detected by the image sensor 720 is the same as the dance that has been asked (hereinafter referred to as “question dance”). It is a game device that performs score calculation.

  The game device 700 displays or outputs a message such as “spread your hands and move your head and legs” before starting the dance game after the player selects the difficulty level of the dance. Thus, a process for specifying the player's operation range (hereinafter referred to as an allowable range) is performed. The game apparatus 700 advances the dance game by repeatedly executing two types of modes: a storage mode for storing the dance in the player and a dance mode for determining the player's dance.

3 to 5 are diagrams illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the display 730 during the game.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen in the storage mode, and a mode display 732 indicating the storage mode is displayed on the upper right of the screen. On the screen in the memory mode, a dance showing correct movement is indicated by the movement of the instructor character (hereinafter referred to as “instructor character”) 770 (actually, a horizontally reversed action is displayed, but for simplicity, the instructor character is displayed. The operation is described as correct.) While the storage mode screen is displayed, the player stores the correct dance.

  In addition, a score display 734, a level gauge 735, and a timing gauge 736 are displayed in common on the screens of the storage mode and the dance mode. The score display 734 shows the cumulative score up to now. The level gauge 735 indicates the player's dance level obtained by accumulating the determination results of the player's dance (motion). If the level gauge 735 is determined to be a correct motion, the level is increased. If the level gauge 735 is determined to be an illegal motion, The level goes down. The timing gauge 736 is configured such that the indicating hand is rotated and displayed at a speed corresponding to the tempo of the dance, and plays a role of a kind of metronome.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen example of the dance mode, and the mode display 732 displays that it is the dance mode. On the screen in the dance mode, the correct dance by the instructor character 770 is displayed, and the movement of the player is detected by the image sensor 720, and it is determined whether or not the dance movement is correct.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen on which a determination result is displayed in the dance mode. In FIG. 5, the determination result display 737 on the right side of the screen displays “Pole” characters determined to be correct movement. In the dance mode, it is determined whether or not the player's dance (movement) is correct at every given time interval, every questioned dance movement, every BGM tempo, etc., and the determination result is displayed. As a determination result, “good” indicating almost correct, “difficult” indicating slightly correct, and “no” indicating that the operation is not correct at all are displayed in addition to “pole”.

  The game device 700 advances the dance game by repeatedly executing the memory mode and the dance mode. However, in the player, since free movement is reflected in the score, the input operation is not limited. You can enjoy an intuitive dance game using

  Next, the principle of detecting / determining the player's motion will be described. An example of a functional block diagram in the game device of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The functional block includes an operation unit 10, an image sensor 20, a processing unit 100, a display unit 30, a speaker 40, and an information storage medium 500.

  The operation unit 10 includes buttons for instructing input of the start of a dance game, difficulty level of the questioned dance, and the like, and the input instruction signal is output to the processing unit 100. In the game device 700 of FIG. 1, the operation unit 710 corresponds to this.

  The image sensor 20 includes a light receiving unit 22, a light reception control unit 24, and an image analysis unit 26, and is realized by an artificial retina chip or the like. The image sensor 720 in the game apparatus 700 in FIG. Applicable. Since the technique of motion detection by the image sensor 20 has been developed as a conventional technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted, but in order to clarify the difference from the gist of the present invention, an outline thereof will be described. .

  The image sensor 20 performs an image detection process for detecting an image, a feature extraction process for the detected image (for example, an edge detection process for detecting a contour line of an object in the image, and a resolution obtained by reading out pixels collectively. Variable processing, pattern matching processing for extracting an object from the image, random access processing for detecting only an arbitrary portion in the image, and the like). Further, the image sensor 20 performs a process of detecting the movement of the player and determining the position of the center of gravity of the player based on the processed image. Specifically, the image sensor 20 performs the process described below.

  The light receiving unit 22 includes a plurality of light receiving elements arranged in a two-dimensional array, and the light detection sensitivity of each light receiving element is controlled by the light receiving control unit 24. That is, since the light detection sensitivity of the light receiving unit 22 is controlled by the light receiving control unit 24, the light receiving unit 22 displays a processed image that has been subjected to various processes such as an edge detection process that detects only the contour line of the image object. It can be obtained with light reception. The processed image obtained by the light receiving unit 22 is output to the image analyzing unit 26 as a processed image signal.

  The image analysis unit 26 detects a two-dimensional motion by optical flow or the like for each processed image signal input from the light receiving unit 22. That is, based on temporal and spatial changes in the brightness of each pixel, the direction and intensity of movement for each pixel is detected. Then, the image analysis unit 26 identifies a portion having strong motion from the detected optical flow, and calculates the direction, magnitude, and speed of the two-dimensional motion as the entire portion. Specifically, it is obtained by a vector average of optical flows included in the entire portion having strong motion. The image sensor 20 detects the movement of the object as described above. Hereinafter, the motion detected by the image sensor 20 will be described as a motion vector including elements of the starting position, direction, size, and speed.

  That is, the image sensor 20 constantly monitors and detects the motion vector of the player, and outputs the detected motion vector to the processing unit 100 as needed. Further, the image sensor 20 determines the position of the center of gravity of the player based on the contour line of the player obtained by the feature extraction process, and also detects the player image itself. The discriminated player's barycentric position and image are output to the processing unit 100 together with the motion vector.

  The processing unit 100 mainly includes a game calculation unit 110, an image generation unit 130, and a music generation unit 140. The game calculation unit 110 reads out the game program 510 from the information storage medium 500, executes a dance game, and moves (dances) the instructor character in the object space based on the character action data 534, or determines similarity Tolerable range determination processing for determining the motion range (allowable range) of the target player, processing for specifying a motion vector within the allowable range among the motion vectors input from the image sensor 20, and determining that the motion is within the allowable range Processing related to game progress and score calculation, such as similarity determination processing for comparing the determined motion vector with the determination reference data 536, is performed.

  The game calculation unit 110 includes a question dance setting unit 114, an allowable range determination unit 120, an action specifying unit 118, and a similarity determination unit 116.

  Before starting the dance game, the question dance setting unit 114 determines a question dance, a BGM song, and a tempo from the question data 530 according to the difficulty level selected and input from the operation unit 10. Perform the process. Specifically, the character motion data 534 for operating the instructor character as a correct dance and the determination criterion data 536 for determining the player's dance are determined to correspond to the question dance, and the question The music to be the BGM of the dance is determined from the music data 532, and finally the tempo is determined so as to match the speed of the questioned dance and the speed of the music. In the following, for the sake of brevity, the explanation will be made assuming that there are only two types of dances, Dance A and Dance B.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the character action data 534. In FIG. 7, character action data 534 stores position data in the object space corresponding to each part of the instructor character in dance A and dance B for each key frame. For example, in the position data of the first frame corresponding to an instructor character part a (for example, the right hand elbow) in Dance A, the X coordinate is Xa1, the Y coordinate is Ya1, and the Z coordinate is Za1. In the position data of the second frame, the X coordinate is Xa2, the Y coordinate is Ya2, and the Z coordinate is Za2. The operation of the instructor character between frames is interpolated.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the determination reference data 536. In FIG. 8, determination criterion data 536 stores determination criterion data of direction, size, and speed corresponding to each of dance A and dance B for each given timing (time). In FIG. 8, for example, the determination reference data at time t1 of dance A is α1a in the direction, β1a in the magnitude, and γ1a in the speed. The determination reference data at time t2 has a direction of α2a, a size of β2a, and a speed of γ2a.

  A given timing (time) such as the time t1 or the time t2 is a timing when the player's dance is determined, and the player's operation is determined based on the determination reference data at this point. Therefore, the given timing (time) can be arbitrarily determined in accordance with the questioned dance and the tempo of the song determined by the questioned dance setting unit 114, every given time interval, or the like. If this given timing is matched with the quest tempo and the tempo of the song, it is possible to determine whether or not the operation of the player matches the tempo.

  The allowable range determination unit 120 performs a process of determining an allowable range as a similarity determination target before starting the dance game. That is, first, before starting the dance game, a message such as “Please spread your hands and move your head and feet” is displayed or output, and the contour of the player is detected by edge detection processing by the image sensor 20 or the like. . FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an image of a player who moves his / her limbs to determine the allowable range. Then, based on the contour line of the player by edge detection, the allowable range determination unit 120 determines the allowable range 120a as a similarity determination target based on the height of the player, the length of the limbs, and the like. Furthermore, in order to remove a motion vector for the movement of the head and torso (hereinafter referred to as a mask), the allowable range determination unit 120 determines the mask range 120b.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the allowable range 120a and the mask range 120b determined based on the image of the player in FIG. In FIG. 10, the motion vector in the allowable range 120 a is a similarity determination target, but the motion vector in the mask range 120 b is excluded from the similarity determination target. The allowable range 120a and the mask range 120b are set such that, for example, the mask range 120b is only the torso and the motion vector for the head motion is a similarity determination target according to the movement, level, difficulty, etc. The width may be varied.

  The allowable range determination unit 120 also determines and determines the relative positions of the allowable range 120a and the mask range 120b with respect to the position of the center of gravity of the player input from the image sensor 20. That is, the allowable range determination unit 120 performs a process of dynamically changing the allowable range 120a and the mask range 120b according to the position of the center of gravity of the player that is input from the image sensor 20 as needed. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the allowable range 120a and the mask range 120b when the player moves from the center position. In FIG. 11, the x mark indicates the position of the center of gravity of the player input from the image sensor 20. In other drawings, the x mark is omitted for simplicity.

  The motion specifying unit 118 performs a process of specifying a motion vector within the allowable range 120 a determined by the allowable range determining unit 120 from among the motion vectors input from the image sensor 20 as needed. This will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a scene in which the player has lowered his / her hand. In this scene, the motion vector input from the image sensor 20 is a motion vector related to the upper arm, elbow, hand, etc. of the player as shown in FIG. Here, the action specifying unit 118 specifies a motion vector within the allowable range 120a and outside the mask range 120b. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, only the motion vector of the hand is specified based on the starting position of each motion vector and the allowable range 120a and mask range 120b. As will be described later, the identified motion vector is a target of similarity determination by the similarity determination unit 116.

  Therefore, unnecessary motion vectors can be eliminated as similarity determination according to the ranges of the allowable range 120a and the mask range 120b, and the efficiency of the similarity determination process and the like can be improved. For example, in FIG. 13, when it is desired to determine whether or not the hand is lowered, it is sufficient if the motion vector related to the hand can be specified. Therefore, the motion vector of the upper arm part or the elbow part is excluded (masked) by the action specifying unit 118, whereby the subsequent processing can be performed efficiently. Further, even when an operation of a person other than the player is detected by the image sensor 20, it can be excluded if the operation is outside the allowable range 120a.

  The similarity determination unit 116 determines the similarity between the determination reference data 536 corresponding to the question dance and the motion vector specified by the action specifying unit 118. In other words, for example, when the question dance is dance A and time t1 is reached, the similarity between the determination reference data 536 at time t1 of dance A and the player action data at that time is determined. As a specific similarity determination method, a pattern matching method that comprehensively considers the direction, size, and speed is used. For beginner dance, the similarity is determined only by the direction element. For advanced users, the present invention can be applied to any method, such as a method of determining similarity for all elements of direction, size, and speed.

  Further, the number of motion vectors input from the image sensor 20 changes dynamically according to the player's motion. Therefore, there may be a plurality of motion vectors specified by the motion specifying unit 118. In that case, two or more determination reference data 536 are prepared, and the similarity to each motion vector is determined to determine two or more simultaneously. It is possible to more accurately determine the movement (dance) for performing the above operation.

  The image generation unit 130 performs processing for generating an image such as the game execution screen described with reference to FIGS. The processing includes generating an image of an instructor character who dances in the object space set by the game calculation unit 110 as seen from a given viewpoint, and an image for displaying the score display 734 and the timing gauge 736. Processing to be generated is included, and the generated image is displayed on the display unit 30.

  The music generation unit 140 generates music based on the music data 532 similarly determined by the question dance setting unit 114 at the tempo determined by the question dance setting unit 114 and performs a process of outputting the music to the speaker 40. Note that the music data 532 has been described as music serving as the BGM of the question dance, but it may be a sound for taking a rhythm. In this case, the music generation unit 140 is determined by the question dance setting unit 114. The sound that matches the tempo is generated.

  The functions of the processing unit 100 described above can be realized by hardware such as a CISC type or RISC type CPU, DSP, or an image capture dedicated IC.

  The display unit 30 displays the image generated by the image generation unit 130, and is realized by, for example, a CRT, LCD, plasma display, or the like, and corresponds to the display 730 in the game apparatus 700 of FIG.

  In addition to the game program 510 relating to the dance game, the information storage medium 500 stores the above-described question data 530 including the music data 532, the character action data 534, and the determination reference data 536. The functions of the information storage medium 500 can be realized by hardware such as a CD-ROM, game cassette, IC card, MO, FD, DVD, memory, and hard disk. As described above, the processing unit 100 performs various processes based on programs, data, and the like stored in the information storage medium 500.

  Next, the operation of the game device according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of processing operation in the game device of the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 15, first, when a difficulty level or the like is input from the operation unit 10, the question dance setting unit 114 sets a question dance according to the difficulty level (step S1). At this time, the question dance setting unit 114 determines the music data 532 corresponding to the question dance, the character action data 534, the judgment reference data 536, and the tempo of the music to be the question dance and BGM.

  Next, an allowable range and a mask range are set by the allowable range determination unit 120 (step S2). At this time, in order to facilitate the setting of the allowable range and the mask range, a message such as “move your hands and feet greatly” may be displayed or output to the player.

  Next, the game calculation unit 110 and the image generation unit 130 perform processing related to the storage mode, that is, operation display of the question dance performed by the instructor character (step S3).

  Next, when the dance mode is started (step S4), the motion specifying unit 118 specifies a motion vector that is within the allowable range and outside the mask range from the motion vector input from the image sensor 20 (step S5). ). Then, the similarity determination unit 116 compares the motion vector specified in step S5 with the determination reference data 536 to determine the similarity (step S6). Next, the game calculation unit 110 displays the determination result on the display unit 30 via the image generation unit 130, and performs scoring processing related to the determined similarity (step S7).

  Next, the game calculation unit 110 determines whether or not the question dance has ended (step S8). If it is determined that it has not ended, the process proceeds to step S3, and if it is determined that it has ended. Then, a score process for calculating and displaying the total score is performed (step S9), and the game is terminated.

  Next, an example of a hardware configuration capable of realizing the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the apparatus shown in the figure, a CPU 1000, a ROM 1002, a RAM 1004, an information storage medium 1006, a sound generation IC 1008, an image generation IC 1010, and I / O ports 1012, 1014, and 1028 are connected to each other via a system bus 1016 so as to be able to input and output data. ing. A display 1018 is connected to the image generation IC 1010, a speaker 1020 is connected to the sound generation IC 1008, a control device 1022 is connected to the I / O port 1012, and a communication device 1024 is connected to the I / O port 1014. The image sensor 1026 is connected to the I / O port 1028.

  The information storage medium 1006 mainly stores a program, image data for expressing a display object, sound data, play data, and the like, and corresponds to the information storage medium 500 in FIG. For example, when the computer realizing the present embodiment is a computer, a CD-ROM, DVD, or the like as an information storage medium for storing a game program or the like is a home game device. A cassette or the like is used. Further, when realized as an arcade game device, a memory such as a ROM or a hard disk is used. In this case, the information storage medium 1006 is a ROM 1002.

  The control device 1022 corresponds to a game controller, an operation panel, and the like, and is a device for a player to input an instruction such as a game difficulty level and an execution start to the device main body.

  In accordance with a program stored in the information storage medium 1006, a system program stored in the ROM 1002 (such as device initialization information), a signal input from the control device 1022, the CPU 1000 controls the entire device and performs various data processing. . The RAM 1004 is a storage means used as a work area of the CPU 1000 and stores the given contents of the information storage medium 1006 and the ROM 1002 or the calculation result of the CPU 1000.

  Further, this apparatus is provided with a sound generation IC 1008 and an image generation IC 1010 so that game sounds and game images can be suitably output. The sound generation IC 1008 is an integrated circuit that generates music such as BGM or voice for taking a dance rhythm based on information stored in the information storage medium 1006 or the ROM 1002, and the generated music is output by the speaker 1020. Is done. The image generation IC 1010 is an integrated circuit that generates pixel information to be output to the display 1018 based on image information sent from the RAM 1004, the ROM 1002, the information storage medium 1006, and the like. Note that the display 1018 needs to have a light emitting function, and for example, a CRT, LCD, plasma display, or the like is suitable.

  The image sensor 20 is constituted by an artificial retina chip or the like, and detects the movement of the player, the image of the player, and the like.

  The communication device 1024 exchanges various types of information used inside the device with the outside. The communication device 1024 is connected to other devices to send and receive given information according to game programs, etc., or via a communication line. It is used for sending and receiving information such as game programs and new question data.

  Various processes described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 14 include an information storage medium 1006 that stores a program for performing the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15, a CPU 1000 that operates according to the program, an image generation IC 1010, and a sound. This is realized by the generation IC 1008 or the like. Note that the processing performed by the image generation IC 1010 or the like may be performed by software using the CPU 1000 or a general-purpose DSP.

  FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 described above show an example in which the present invention is applied to an arcade game device. In this case, a CPU, an image generation IC, a sound generation IC, and the like are mounted on a system board built in the apparatus. Information related to the dance game such as the game program 510 and the question data 530 in FIG. 6 is stored in a memory which is an information storage medium on the system board. Hereinafter, information related to the dance game is referred to as stored information.

  FIG. 17A shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a computer system. The player enjoys a dance game by dancing (operating) toward the image sensor 1220 while viewing the image displayed on the display 1200. In this case, the stored information is stored in a CD-ROM, DVD, or the like, which is an information storage medium that can be attached to and detached from the main unit.

  FIG. 17B shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a game system including a host device 1300 and terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n connected to the host device 1300 via a communication line 1302. . In this case, the stored information is stored in an information storage medium 1306 such as a magnetic disk device, a magnetic tape device, or a memory that can be controlled by the host device 1300, for example. When the terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n have a CPU, an image generation IC, a sound generation IC, and an image sensor and can generate game images and game sounds (BGM, etc.) stand-alone, the host device 1300 , A game image, a game program for generating a game sound, and the like are delivered to the terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n. On the other hand, if it cannot be generated stand-alone, the host device 1300 generates a game image and game sound, which is transmitted to the terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n and output at the terminal.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the allowable range and the mask range can be set, and therefore, among the plurality of motion vectors that are the results of detecting the player's motion, the motion vector to be determined for similarity is determined. Can be identified. Therefore, the efficiency and speed of the determination process for the player's operation can be improved, and the game can be progressed according to the movement of the player using the whole body. Further, it is possible to realize a game that does not impair the real-time property without causing a processing delay such as inputting the player's motion once and then performing processing based on the motion.

  The present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, a dance game has been described as an example. However, how to detect a player's action and how to specify an action to be judged for similarity among the detected actions is described in the present invention. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to other games such as gesture games that require determination of the player's action. Further, the allowable range and the mask range may be changed according to the progress of the game such as an interlude of a song or the progress of a score of a player.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the description has been given assuming that one player is used, but two or more players may be used. FIG. 18A is a diagram illustrating a display example of an instructor character for two-player play, and FIG. 18B is a diagram illustrating an allowable range 120a and a mask range 120b for two players. The realization method for dealing with two players is as follows.

  First, the allowable range determination unit 120 determines the allowable range and mask range for two people. Next, when the dance game is started, all motion vectors in the detection range of the image sensor 20 are output from the image sensor 20, but the center of gravity position of each player is also output from the image sensor 20. Therefore, the allowable range determining unit 120 can dynamically determine the allowable range and the mask range corresponding to each player, and the motion specifying unit 118 can specify the motion vector corresponding to each player. . Then, the game play for the two players can be realized by comparing the determination reference data 536 corresponding to each player prepared in advance with the motion vector of each player.

  Further, in a two-player game, the allowable range and mask range of each player may overlap. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example where the allowable ranges and mask ranges of the players overlap. As shown in FIG. 19B, when each player performs the operation of the instructor character shown in FIG. 19A, the allowable range and the mask range overlap each other. However, the action specifying unit 118 does not specify a motion vector for each player, but by specifying a motion vector that is within the allowable range of any player and outside the mask range of any player. can do. In other words, it is impossible to determine which player the specified motion vector corresponds to, but by preparing a plurality of corresponding reference data in the determination reference data 536, the similarity to the overall operation of the two players can be increased. Can be determined.

  Furthermore, by applying the method described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19, a dance that must be performed in cooperation between two players, such as a two-legged tripod shown in FIG. It is good also as inserting and determining the similarity with respect to the said 2 player. It should be noted that the two-player game in FIG. 19B can be determined as a one-player game in a pseudo manner.

  Needless to say, the method described with reference to FIGS. 18 to 20 can be applied to two or more players. Further, an allowable range and a mask range may be set for two or more players as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 21, for example, a mask range 120b is set for the upper body of the player as a challenge dance on the premise that a plurality of players dance (motion) such as line dance, On the other hand, the allowable range 120a may be set. In this case, the degree of similarity is determined with respect to the entire dance (motion) of the player, but it can be interesting that a plurality of people can dance.

  Furthermore, the allowable range may be divided into a plurality of regions, and the motion vector and the determination reference data may be compared for each region. That is, as shown in FIG. 22, for example, in the allowable range 120a, the upper left area is the first area, the upper right area is the second area, the lower left area is the third area, and the lower right area is the fourth area. As shown in FIG. 23, determination criterion data corresponding to each region may be prepared as the determination criterion data 536. In this case, it can be realized by the motion specifying unit 118 specifying the motion vector corresponding to each region based on the starting position of the motion vector, and determining the similarity for each region by the similarity determining unit 116. It is. In this case, since the motion vector as shown in FIG. 24 is detected and specified for the action of lowering both hands as shown in FIG. 22, a more accurate similarity is obtained even for a complicated action. Judgment can be made. In addition, by specifying a region to be determined, it is possible to improve the efficiency of processing related to determination of similarity.

  Needless to say, the method of dividing the permissible range described with reference to FIGS. 22 to 24 into a plurality of areas can be applied to the processing for a plurality of players described with reference to FIGS. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Operation part 20 Image sensor 100 Processing part 110 Game calculation part 114 Question dance setting part 116 Similarity determination part 118 Action specification part 120 Permissible range determination part 130 Image generation part 140 Music generation part 30 Display part 40 Speaker 500 Information storage medium 510 Game program 530 Questions data 532 Music data 534 Character action data 536 Criteria data

Claims (8)

A game apparatus for detecting a player's movement from an image obtained by a light receiving unit, for executing a given game based on the player's movement detected by the detection means,
An allowable range setting means for setting an allowable range that is a range in which the player can operate among the detectable ranges by the detection means;
A mask range setting unit that sets a mask range that is a range to be excluded from targets of similarity determination among the detectable ranges by the detection unit;
A specifying means for specifying a player's movement within the allowable range and out of the mask range out of the player's movement detected by the detection means;
Similarity determination means for comparing the movement specified by the specifying means and the movement of a given criterion to determine the similarity;
A game device comprising: The mask range setting means sets the mask range at a position corresponding to the torso of the player within the allowable range;
The game device according to claim 1. The detecting means detects the movement of the player as a motion vector;
The specifying unit specifies a motion vector within the allowable range and out of the mask range among the motion vectors detected by the detection unit,
The similarity determination means determines the similarity by comparing the identified motion vector with the motion of the criterion.
The game device according to claim 1 or 2. The specifying unit specifies a motion vector within the allowable range and outside the mask range based on at least a starting position of the motion vector;
The game device according to claim 3. The allowable range setting means and the mask range setting means respectively change the positions of the allowable range and the mask range in accordance with a change in the position of the player in the image;
The game device according to claim 1. The allowable range setting means and the mask range setting means respectively change the setting of the allowable range and the mask range according to the progress of the given game or the type of the given game.
The game device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The allowable range setting unit and the mask range setting unit respectively change the setting of the allowable range and the mask range according to the similarity determined by the similarity determination unit.
The game device according to claim 1. A program for causing a computer having detection means for detecting a player's movement from an image obtained by a light receiving unit to execute a given game based on the player's movement detected by the detection means. ,
An allowable range setting means for setting an allowable range that is a range in which the player can operate among the detectable ranges by the detection means;
A mask range setting means for setting a mask range that is a range to be excluded from targets of similarity determination among the detectable ranges by the detection means;
A specifying unit for specifying a player movement within the allowable range and out of the mask range among the player movements detected by the detection unit;
Similarity determination means for determining similarity by comparing the movement specified by the specifying means with the movement of a given criterion;
A computer-readable information storage medium storing a program for causing the computer to function as:

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