JP5428174B2 - Head mounted display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a head mounted display device.

A head-mounted display device is known that displays an image on a display screen located in front of the user when the user wears the device on the head (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-233904 A

  However, according to the head mounted display device described in Patent Document 1, when checking the information stored in the device, the user has to wear and start the device and look into the display screen each time, which is troublesome. It was necessary.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of notifying a user who is not wearing a device of the contents of stored information.

In order to solve the above problems, a head-mounted display device according to the present invention includes a storage unit that stores content acquired from a distribution source, a notification unit that notifies information about unviewed content, If the content is stored, to a notification to the notification unit, when the predetermined time has elapsed since then a notification to the notification unit, and a control means for Ru terminates the notification, whether attached to the user Detecting means for detecting the content, and the control means automatically executes the unviewed content when wearing is detected by the detecting means when notification is given by the notifying means. It is characterized by doing.

  As described above, according to the head mounted display device of the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology capable of notifying the user who is not wearing the device of the contents of the stored information.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a head mounted display device (hereinafter abbreviated as HMD) 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the HMD 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, the HMD 1 according to the present embodiment includes a head wearing band 11, an audio output unit 12, a housing 13, a support unit 14, an arm unit 15, a display unit 16, and an operation unit 17. And a light emitting unit 18.

  The head mounting band 11 is formed in a curved shape so that both ends thereof face each other. Further, the head wearing band 11 is made of a material having elasticity, and the HMD 1 is attached to the user by pressing a speaker 121 (described later) inward of the user's head when worn on the user's head. It can be detachably attached to the head of the head.

  Cases 13 </ b> A and 13 </ b> B (in the case where they are not distinguished from each other) are connected to both longitudinal ends of the head mounting band 11. A speaker 121A is connected to the housing 13A, and a speaker 121B is connected to the housing 13B. Further, power is supplied from the power source (not shown) built in the housing 13B and the control device 10 to each part and the power source in the head wearing band 11 and the power source. A power line or the like is wired.

  The sound output unit 12 converts the sound signal into sound and outputs the sound. Specifically, the audio output unit 12 according to the present embodiment includes speakers 121A and 121B (in the case where they are not distinguished from each other, they are simply expressed as speakers 121), and these are provided to both ears of the user. It is a so-called headphone speaker that is used by being assigned. In FIG. 1, the right speaker 121A is for the left ear, and the left speaker 121B is for the right ear. These left and right distinctions may be arbitrarily determined by the user's operation, or may be switched depending on whether the display unit 16 is viewed with the right eye or the left eye. In addition, a power line for supplying power from the power source and a sound signal line for supplying a sound signal are wired to the sound output unit 12.

  The housing 13B incorporates a control device 10 and a power source. Furthermore, HMD1 which concerns on this embodiment has the operation part 17 and the light emission part 18 in the outer wall surface on the opposite side to the speaker 121B of the housing | casing 13B.

  Further, the housing 13A includes a power switch (not shown) that switches the power of the HMD 1 on and off on the outer wall surface opposite to the speaker 121A.

  The power source, power switch, control device 10, operation unit 17 and light emitting unit 18 may be arranged in any of the housings 13A and 13B, and the housings 13A and 13B are integrated with the speakers 121A and 121B, respectively. It is good also as composition which becomes.

  The support portion 14 rotatably connects one end side of the arm portion 15 to the housing 13B. Any connection method may be used. With such a configuration, the user wears the HMD 1 so that the left and right of the speakers 121A and 121B are reversed, and uses the arm unit 15 rotated 180 degrees so that the display unit 16 is placed in front of the eyes. Is possible. That is, the user can place the display unit 16 in front of either the left or right eye.

  The arm unit 15 is configured such that when the head mounting band 11 is mounted on the user's head, the display unit 16 attached to the other end side of the housing 13A is positioned in front of the user's eyes. It is curved in its longitudinal direction. In addition, a power line for supplying power from the power source to the display unit 16 and an image signal line for supplying an image signal are wired.

  The display unit 16 is coupled to the tip of the arm unit 15 so as to be rotatable in the vertical and horizontal directions in accordance with the user's line of sight. The display unit 16 includes, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for displaying an image and an optical system for enlarging the displayed image, and displays the image based on the supplied image signal.

  The operation unit 17 includes a plurality of operation switches 171. The user can input instructions regarding functions related to the HMD 1, such as play, stop, fast forward, rewind, volume change, and other control processes, via the operation switch 171. An operation instruction input via these switches is transmitted to the control unit 101 via an input / output interface unit 103 (hereinafter referred to as I / F unit; see FIG. 2) described later.

  The HMD 1 further includes an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor that detect direction information regarding the movement of the user's head as an angular velocity and acceleration as input means other than the operation unit 17, and performs processing corresponding to the detected angular velocity and acceleration. It is good also as a structure which performs.

  The angular velocity sensor is an optical gyro that utilizes the fact that the laser light circulates with a mirror or fiber in the housing, and the light reception timing changes from the light emission of the laser that circulates inside when the housing changes direction. Applying precession, a mechanical gyro that detects angular variation, when an angular velocity is added to the mass that vibrates (primary vibration), vibration (secondary vibration) is also generated in the direction perpendicular to it by Coriolis force. It is possible to use a vibrating gyroscope or the like.

  The light emitting unit 18 is a notification unit for notifying the user of information stored in the HMD 1 and is configured by, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode). Specifically, the light emitting unit 18 of the HMD 1 according to the present embodiment includes four LED lamps 181. In addition, many LED lamps 181 may be provided, and one to three may be sufficient. Furthermore, the light emitting unit 18 is not limited to the outer wall surface of the housing 13B, and may be installed at any location as long as the user can visually recognize the device without wearing the device.

  The LED lamp 181 includes light emitting diode elements of a plurality of colors such as red, green, and blue, for example. Of course, in addition to the above-described color, a light emitting diode element having an intermediate color such as yellow may be provided, and white light may be emitted by mixing with other elements. Each light-emitting diode element can take one of the states of lighting, extinguishing, and blinking under the control of the notification control unit 113 described later.

  Note that the HMD 1 may further include a one-segment tuner capable of receiving one-segment (registered trademark) broadcasting, and may be configured to receive a television program, text data, a still image, and the like.

  Next, the control apparatus 10 with which HMD1 which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention is provided is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the HMD 1.

  First, power supply states that the HMD 1 can take will be described. In addition to turning the power on and off, the HMD 1 is in a power saving state, for example, a STR (Suspend To Ram, so-called standby) state in which power supply to each device other than the memory is stopped, or almost completely stops power supply. Can be in hibernation. However, even in such a power saving state, power supply to the content acquisition unit 111 of the control unit 101 to be described later is continued without interruption.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the control device 10 includes a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, and an I / F unit 103.

  The storage unit 102 includes a content storage area 151 and a table storage area 152.

  In the content storage area 151, content acquired by the content acquisition unit 111 and assigned with the metadata 51 is stored. Such processing of the content acquisition unit 111 will be described later.

  The table storage area 152 stores the pattern table 52 in which the notification mode of the LED lamp 181 corresponding to the attribute information is set. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the pattern table 52 includes a content type storage area 52 a that stores the type of content, and a notification pattern storage area 52 b that stores a notification pattern that is a light emission pattern of an LED.

  The control unit 101 detects a content acquisition unit 111 that acquires content from a distribution source such as a network or other storage device, and an unviewed content from the acquired content, and specifies a notification pattern by the LED lamp 181 based on the attribute And a notification control unit 113 that controls power supply to the LED lamp 181 according to the specified notification pattern.

  Here, the contents are all digital data such as music, video, images, documents, and the like.

  The content acquisition unit 111 acquires new content from a network or another device. Specifically, the content acquisition unit 111 first returns from the power saving state when a predetermined timing arrives. Next, the content acquisition unit 111 receives a content list stored in the server via a telecommunication line such as the Internet from a distribution source server that stores the content. Then, the content acquisition unit 111 compares the content list with the content stored in the content storage area 151 of the storage unit 102, and acquires content that does not exist in the content storage area 151 from the server as new content. .

  Note that the content acquisition timing may be, for example, the content acquisition unit 111 may connect to the server at an arbitrary cycle to automatically download unviewed content, or the user may instruct connection via the operation unit 17. It is good also as a structure which starts the connection to a server when it inputs. It is also possible to determine the timing by the user performing a reservation operation in advance.

  Furthermore, the content distribution source device is not limited to the server, and any device such as a personal computer, an optical disk playback device, an audio playback device, and a storage device such as a semiconductor memory can be used as long as the device can be connected to the HMD 1 so as to transfer data. But it ’s okay.

  Further, the content acquisition unit 111 assigns metadata 51 to the acquired content main body and stores it in the storage unit 102.

  The metadata 51 includes a plurality of pieces of attribute information that describes content. For example, an ID, acquisition date / time, information indicating viewing / non-viewing, a reproduction history, and the like are recorded as the attribute information. The unviewed content detection unit 112 described later can specify the attribute information afterwards by browsing the metadata 51.

  Here, an example of the configuration of the metadata 51 is shown in FIG. The metadata 51 includes an ID storage area 51a, a content type storage area 51b, an acquisition date storage area 51c, a viewing / unviewing flag storage area 51d, and a reproduction history storage area 51e.

  When the content acquisition unit 111 assigns the metadata 51 to the content main body acquired from the server, first, an arbitrary ID number is assigned and stored in the ID storage area 51a. The acquired content type is stored in the content type storage area 51b, the current date and time are stored in the acquisition date / time storage area 51c, and an unviewed flag (eg, “0”) is stored in the viewing / unviewed flag storage area 51d. sign up.

  In addition, the content acquisition unit 111 updates the content of the attribute information of the metadata 51 every time the attribute of each content changes.

  The viewing / non-viewing determination criteria by the content acquisition unit 111 may be defined in any way, but here, the configuration is such that “viewing” is determined when all the data is reproduced / executed. For example, when unviewed music or video content is played through from the beginning to the end, the content acquisition unit 111 assumes that the content has been “viewed” and views / unviewed flag storage area 51d of the metadata 51. In addition, a viewing flag (for example, “1”) is registered. Of course, a configuration may be adopted in which it is determined that “viewing” has been completed when a specific time elapses after confirmation of unviewed content or playback.

  Of course, the metadata 51 may store any attribute information related to content such as reception location information, viewing time limit, title, file name, and the like. All the attribute information can be used for controlling the LED lamp 181 described later. The attribute information may be received together with the content body from the distribution source.

  When the user turns on the power, the unviewed content detection unit 112 detects unviewed content from the acquired content. Specifically, the unviewed content detecting unit 112 first refers to the metadata 51 of the content stored in the storage unit 102, and selects the content in which the unviewed flag is registered in the viewing / unviewed flag storage area 51d. To detect. Then, the type of the unviewed content is specified from the content type storage area 51b.

  The detection of unviewed content can be started, for example, when the content acquisition unit 111 newly acquires content or at a predetermined timing to return from the power saving state.

  Next, the unviewed content detection unit 112 refers to the pattern table 52 shown in FIG. 3 and stores a notification pattern (light emission pattern of the LED 181) associated with the identified type of the unviewed content as a notification pattern. It specifies from the area | region 52b. Further, the unviewed content detection unit 112 outputs the specified notification pattern to the notification control unit 113 as notification pattern information.

  The notification pattern is a light emission pattern of the LED lamp 181 in which elements such as the light emitting solid, number, color, and blinking interval of the LED lamp 181 are combined. Hereinafter, an example will be described.

  As an example of the notification pattern, for example, a content type is assigned to each of a plurality of LED lamps 181 in advance, power is supplied only to the LED lamp 181 corresponding to the type of existing unviewed content, By blinking, the user is notified of what type of unviewed content exists.

  It is also possible to assign a color of a light emitting diode element to a content type and apply a voltage emitted by an element of a color corresponding to an unviewed content type to emit a desired color. When there are a plurality of unviewed contents, the corresponding number of LED lamps 181 may be turned on and blinked.

  Of course, the notification pattern can be assigned not only to the content type but also to other attribute information. For example, the brightness and blinking interval of the LED lamp 181 can be changed every time the acquisition date and time elapses that day, two days ago, three days ago, and so on. Such processing can be realized by preparing a field for specifying the elapsed time from the acquisition date and time of the content in the pattern table 52 and associating it with the notification pattern.

  Of course, with respect to other attribute information included in the metadata 51, a notification pattern is determined by combining elements such as the light emitting solid, number, color, and blinking interval of the LED lamp 181, and stored in the pattern table 52. You can keep it.

  When the notification control unit 113 receives the notification pattern information output from the unviewed content detection unit 112, the notification control unit 113 controls power supply from the power source to the LED lamp 181 according to the notification pattern, and turns on and blinks the LED lamp 181.

  In addition, the notification control unit 113 measures the elapsed time from the start of lighting and blinking of the LED lamp 181 by a timer (not shown), and turns off the LED lamp 181 when a certain time has elapsed.

  The I / F unit 103 connects each device and apparatus to the HMD 1 so that data can be transferred. Specifically, the I / F unit 103 includes a terminal conforming to a standard such as USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE 1394, or the like as a general-purpose bus for connecting to an external device. Further, the I / F unit 103 is, for example, a wireless communication module 24 (FIG. 13) for connecting to a network that complies with standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), wireless fidelity (WiFi; registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the like. And any wireless / wired connection technology can be used.

  Here, the hardware configuration of the HMD 1 will be described. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the HMD 1.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the HMD 1 is a main part of a computer, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 that centrally controls each device, a memory 22 that stores various data in a rewritable manner, various programs, A nonvolatile auxiliary memory 23 that stores data generated by the program, and an I / F unit 103 that connects each device such as the LCD 162, the speaker 121, and the wireless communication module 24 to the CPU 21 are provided. For example, the control unit 101 can be realized by reading a predetermined program stored in the auxiliary memory 23 into the memory 22 and executing it by the CPU 21.

  Next, processing executed by the control unit 101 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing when the content acquisition unit 111 acquires unviewed content from the outside.

  First, when a predetermined timing comes, the content acquisition unit 111 causes the power supply to start supplying power to each unit of the control device 10 to return from the power saving state, and starts this flow.

  The content acquisition unit 111 starts communication with a content distribution source server or storage device via the I / F unit 103 (S11).

  Next, the content acquisition unit 111 receives a content list from the content distribution source. Then, the content acquisition unit 111 compares the content list with the content stored in the storage unit 102, and determines whether or not new content exists at the content distribution source (S12). If there is new content (YES in S12), the process proceeds to step 103. If not (NO in S12), the process shifts again to the power saving state and the process ends (S14).

  When new content exists at the content distribution source (YES in S12), the content acquisition unit 111 acquires the new content from the distribution source, adds the metadata 51, and stores it in the content storage area 151 of the storage unit 102. (S13). At this time, the content acquisition unit 111 stores at least the type of the content in the content type storage area 51b and the unviewed flag in the viewing / unviewed flag storage area 51d. Thereafter, the content acquisition unit 111 stops power supply to each unit other than the control unit 101, shifts to a power saving state, and ends the process (S14).

  Next, processing when the unviewed content detection unit 112 and the notification control unit 113 detect the presence or absence of unviewed content and execute control of the LED lamp will be described with reference to FIG.

  The unviewed content detection unit 112 starts this flow when power is turned on by the user or when an operation by the user is detected.

  First, the unviewed content detection unit 112 detects unviewed content from the acquired content (S21). Specifically, the unviewed content detection unit 112 first refers to the metadata 51 for the content stored in the content storage area 151, and selects the content for which the unviewed flag is registered in the viewing / unviewed flag storage area 51d. To detect. If unviewed content exists (YES in S21), the type of the unviewed content is specified from the content type storage area 51b, and the process proceeds to step 22. If there is no unviewed content (NO in S21), the process ends.

  When there is unviewed content (YES in S21), the unviewed content detection unit 112 refers to the pattern table 52 and sets a notification pattern associated with the type of unviewed content specified in step 21. Then, it is specified from the notification pattern storage area 52b (S22). Then, the unviewed content detection unit 112 outputs the specified notification pattern to the notification control unit 113 as notification pattern information, and proceeds to Step 23.

  When the notification control unit 113 receives the notification pattern information output from the unviewed content detection unit 112, the notification control unit 113 controls power supply from the power source to the LED lamp 181 according to the notification pattern, and turns on and blinks the LED lamp 181 ( S23). Then, a countdown of a predetermined light emission time is started (S24).

  Next, the notification control unit 113 determines whether or not the count value has reached “0” (S25). If the count value has not reached “0”, this step is repeated. If the count value has reached “0”, the notification control unit 113 turns off the LED lamp 181 (S26) and ends the process.

  The processing when the control device 10 notifies the user of the presence of unviewed content has been described above. According to the above flow, the user can recognize the existence of automatically acquired unviewed content without wearing a device.

  The unviewed content detection unit 112 may return from the power saving state and start the flow illustrated in FIG. 4 when new content is acquired by the content acquisition unit 111 or at a predetermined timing. .

  Further, the notification control unit 113 may be configured not to turn off the LED lamp 181 even in the power saving state, unless there is an input of any operation from the user. According to such a configuration, the notification can be continued until the user recognizes the lighting and blinking of the LED lamp 181.

  In addition to the light emitted from the LED lamp 181, the user may be notified of the presence of unviewed content using music, vibration, or a notification means that combines these.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a side view of the HMD 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The HMD 1 according to the first embodiment includes an LED lamp as a notification unit, but the HMD 2 according to the present embodiment includes a sub-display 19 as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  As shown in the figure, the HMD 2 in this modification includes a sub-display 19 on the outer wall surface of the housing 13B. The sub display 19 is, for example, an LCD as a display device that displays an image. Of course, the sub-display 19 is not limited to the outer wall surface of the housing 13B, and may be installed in any location as long as the user can visually recognize the device without wearing the device.

  The sub display 19 displays a notification screen 190 generated by an unviewed content detection unit 212 described later. On the notification screen 190, for example, an unviewed content list as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed in chronological order from the latest one. In the content list, the content of each content is displayed by an icon 191 indicating the content type, acquisition date information 192 indicating the content acquisition date, and the like.

  Next, the control apparatus 20 with which HMD2 which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention is provided is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the HMD2.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, the control device 20 includes a control unit 201, a storage unit 202, and an I / F unit 103.

  The storage unit 202 includes a content storage area 253 and a table storage area 254.

  The content storage area 253 stores the content acquired by the content acquisition unit 211 and given the metadata 51.

  The table storage area 254 stores in advance an icon table 54 that stores content types and icons 191 in association with each other. As shown in FIG. 9, for example, the icon table 54 includes a content type storage area 54a for storing content types and an icon image storage area 54b for storing icon images.

  The control unit 201 generates a content acquisition unit 211 that acquires content from a distribution source such as a network or another storage device, and a notification screen 190 that detects an unviewed content from the acquired content and displays it on the sub display 19 And a notification control unit 213 that displays the generated notification screen 190 on the sub-display 19.

  The content acquisition unit 211 performs the same processing as the content acquisition unit 111 according to the first embodiment. However, when the content acquisition unit 111 assigns the metadata 51 to the acquired new content, the content acquisition unit 111 views at least the content type in the content type storage area 51b, the current time in the acquisition date storage area 51c, and the unviewed flag. Store in the unviewed flag storage area 51d.

  When a predetermined timing arrives, the unviewed content detection unit 212 causes the power supply to start supplying power to each unit of the control device 20, returns from the power saving state, and detects unviewed content. Specifically, the unviewed content detection unit 212 first refers to the metadata 51 of the content stored in the storage unit 202, and displays the content for which the unviewed flag is registered in the viewing / unviewed flag storage area 51d. The type of the unviewed content is specified from the content type storage area 51b.

  Next, the unviewed content detection unit 212 refers to the icon table 54 shown in FIG. 9 and acquires an icon image associated with the specified type of unviewed content from the icon image storage area 54b. Next, the unviewed content detection unit 212 specifies the acquisition date / time of the content from the acquisition date / time storage area 51c of the unviewed content, arranges it on the generation screen together with the icon image, and generates the notification screen 190. Further, the generated notification screen 190 is output to the notification control unit 213.

  Upon receiving the notification screen 190 from the unviewed content detection unit 212, the notification control unit 213 displays the notification screen 190 on the sub display 19.

  Next, the above processing executed by the control unit 201 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the unviewed content detection unit 212 and the notification control unit 213 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  When a predetermined timing arrives, the unviewed content detection unit 212 causes the power supply to start supplying power to each unit of the control device 10, returns from the power saving state, and starts this flow.

  First, the unviewed content detection unit 212 detects content whose unviewed flag is registered in the viewing / unviewed flag storage region 51d from the content stored in the content storage region 253 of the storage unit 202 (S31). If unviewed content exists (YES in S31), the type of the unviewed content is specified from the content type storage area 51b. If there is no unviewed content (NO in S31), the process ends.

  Next, the unviewed content detection unit 212 refers to the icon table 54 and identifies the icon image associated with the type of unviewed content identified in step 31 from the icon image storage area 54b. Furthermore, the acquisition date and time of the content is specified from the acquisition date and time storage area 51c of the metadata 51, and is arranged on the generation screen together with the icon image to generate the notification screen 190 (S32). Then, the generated notification screen 190 is output to the notification control unit 213, and the process proceeds to step 33.

  When the notification control unit 213 receives the notification screen 190 output from the unviewed content detection unit 112, the notification control unit 213 displays the notification screen 190 on the sub display 19 (S33), and shifts to the power saving state again (S34). .

  In the power saving state, power from the power source is not supplied to the sub display 19. Accordingly, the sub display 19 displays the notification screen 190 only when the user executes some input operation to cancel the power saving state. Of course, the notification screen 190 may be continuously displayed on the sub display 19 without shifting to the power saving state.

  In addition, some distribution contents have a viewing time limit after reception or after viewing is started. The content acquisition unit 211 may receive such information regarding the viewing time limit from the distribution source at the same time as the content, and store the information in the metadata 51 as attribute information. According to such a configuration, it is also possible to calculate the remaining viewable time from the acquisition date / time and reproduction history stored in the metadata 51 and the viewing time limit, and to display the remaining viewable time on the notification screen 190.

  Note that both the sub-display 19 and the LED lamp 181 may be provided, and when there is unviewed content, only the LED lamp 181 that is more power-saving than the sub-display 19 may be lit and blinked. According to such a configuration, when a user who notices lighting of the LED lamp 181 performs some input operation, information on unviewed content is displayed on the sub-display 19, and thus efficient operation is possible. Become.

  Of course, other attribute information stored in the metadata 51, for example, a title and a reproduction history can be arranged on the notification screen 190 and displayed on the sub display 19.

  Further, the sub-display 19 may be a touch panel provided with a touch sensor that can directly perform an input operation by touching the screen. For example, the execution content corresponding to the icon is assigned to the display area such as the icon 191 described above, and the notification control unit 213 detects that the user has touched the display area on the notification screen 190. Run the corresponding content. According to such a configuration, since the user can execute the corresponding content directly from the notification means, a more intuitive operation is possible.

  Moreover, HMD2 is good also as a structure which can detect a user's mounting | wearing state. The detection of the wearing state uses, for example, an infrared sensor that detects a change in the amount of light when the infrared beam is received on the light receiver side and when the light is blocked by the shielding object by projecting an infrared beam from the projector. This is possible.

  If the touch panel and the infrared sensor described above are used, a configuration in which the associated content is executed when the user touches the display area of the icon 191 and it is detected that the apparatus is in the wearing state. Also good. As a result, when the user wears the apparatus, the user can view the content that is played back at the optimal timing.

  With the configuration as described above, according to the HMD 2 according to the second embodiment, the user can obtain more detailed information regarding unviewed content by displaying the content of information stored in the device on the sub-display 19. Is possible.

  The HMD 1 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The HMD 1 according to the present embodiment is separately provided with a remote controller 400 (see FIG. 11) that can perform operations related to the HMD 1. The HMD main body according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as the HMD 1 according to the first embodiment of FIG. 1 and will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the remote control 400 includes an infrared light receiving unit 315 for infrared communication, a display unit 316 including a sub display 40, and an operation unit 317. The operation unit 317 includes an operation infrared light source (not shown), and the user can perform an operation related to the HMD 1 wirelessly while looking at the operation switch of the operation unit 317.

  The infrared light receiving unit 315 receives infrared light emitted from the LED lamp 181 included in the HMD 1 body, converts the light emission pattern into electrical reception data, and outputs it to the content type determination unit 311 via the I / F unit 303. To do. Of course, in this case, it is assumed that an infrared LED lamp is used as the LED lamp 181 provided in the main body of the HMD 1.

  Next, the control device 30 of the remote controller 400 provided in the HMD 1 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of remote controller 400.

  As illustrated in FIG. 12, the control device 30 includes a control unit 301, a storage unit 302, and an I / F unit 303.

  The I / F unit 303 connects each device and apparatus (including the main body of the HMD1) to the remote controller 400 so that data can be transferred. For example, the I / F unit 303 includes a wireless communication module for connecting to a network conforming to a standard such as wireless fidelity (WiFi) or Bluetooth, and can use any connection technology.

  The storage unit 302 stores in advance a pattern table 52 similar to the HMD 1 according to the first embodiment and an icon table 54 similar to the HMD 2 according to the second embodiment.

  The control unit 301 determines the content type from the light emission pattern of the LED lamp 181 included in the HMD 1 main body, and generates the notification screen 390. The notification control unit 312 displays the notification screen 390 on the sub display 40. It has.

  When the content type determination unit 311 receives the reception data output from the infrared light receiving unit 315 according to the light emission pattern by the LED lamp 181, the content type determination unit 311 refers to the pattern table 52 and specifies the content type from the notification pattern.

  Next, the content type determination unit 311 refers to the icon table 54, acquires an icon image corresponding to the content type, arranges the icon image on the generation screen, generates the notification screen 390, and the notification control unit 312. To output.

  Upon receiving the notification screen 390 from the content type determination unit 311, the notification control unit 312 displays the notification screen 390 on the sub display 40.

  The remote controller 400 may be configured to directly receive the notification screen 390 to be displayed on the sub display 40 from the wireless communication module 24 of the HMD 1 main body and display the notification screen 390 on the sub display 40.

  In addition, the remote controller 400 may further include a light emitting unit, which may emit light with the same light emission pattern as the LED lamp 181 of the HMD1 main body. Of course, the light emitting unit 18 may be provided only in the remote control 400.

  With the configuration as described above, according to the HMD 1 according to the third embodiment, even when the HMD 1 main body is not at hand, the user can know the contents of the information stored in the HMD 1 with the remote controller.

  Note that the HMD according to the first to third embodiments is configured to view an image with one eye, but may be an HMD that views an image with both eyes.

It is a perspective view of HMD1 concerning a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of HMD1 of this invention. It is the schematic of the pattern table with which HMD1 of this invention is provided. It is the schematic of the metadata which the content acquisition part 111 of this invention provides. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of the content acquisition part 111 acquiring unviewed content from the outside. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by an unviewed content detection unit 112 and a notification control unit 113. It is a side view of HMD2 concerning a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of HMD2 of this invention. It is the schematic of the icon table with which HMD2 of this invention is provided. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by an unviewed content detection unit 212 and a notification control unit 213. It is the schematic of the remote control 400 with which HMD1 which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the remote control 400 with which HMD1 which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of HMD of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  1.2: HMD, 10.20.30: control device, 11: head wearing band, 12: audio output unit, 13A, 13B: housing, 14: support unit, 15: arm unit, 16: display unit, 19, 40: sub-display, 17/317: operation unit, 18: light emitting unit, 101: control unit, 111/211: content acquisition unit, 112/212: unviewed content detection unit, 113/213: notification control unit, 102, 202, 302: storage unit, 103, 303: input / output interface unit, 400: remote controller.

Claims (6)

Storage means for storing content acquired from a distribution source;
A notification means for notifying information about unviewed content;
If the content of the unviewed stored in said storage means, to the notification to the notification means, when the predetermined time has elapsed since then a notification to the notification unit, and a control means for Ru terminates the notification,
Detecting means for detecting whether or not it is worn by a user,
The control means automatically executes the unviewed content when wearing is detected by the detection means while the notification is being performed by the notification means. . The head-mounted display device according to claim 1,
The notification means includes
A sub-display with a touch panel;
Display the attribute of unviewed content on the sub-display, perform the notification,
When the notification is made by the notification means, the control means touches a display area where information of unviewed content is displayed, and if the detection is detected by the detection means, the control means A head-mounted display device that automatically executes viewing content. The head mounted display device according to claim 2,
The attribute of the unviewed content is at least one of content type, elapsed time since acquisition, and remaining viewable time. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 or 2,
The notification means includes at least one lamp;
The control means causes the lamp to emit light with a light emission pattern determined according to an attribute of the unviewed content,
The attribute of the unviewed content is at least one of content type, elapsed time since acquisition, and remaining viewable time. The head mounted display device according to claim 4,
The light-emitting pattern includes a combination of lighting of the lamp, a blinking interval, and a color. The head mounted display device according to claim 4 or 5,
A remote control,
The remote controller specifies an attribute of the unviewed content from a light emission pattern of the lamp, and displays the specified attribute on a display of the remote controller.

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