JPH0531464U - Remote control device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Display the contents of remote control operation on the display unit 15,
The remote control operation of the TV is performed by pointing with the eyes and pointing. [Structure] An eyeball is irradiated with a light beam and reflected light is photographed by a camera unit 14 and reflected on a display unit 15. The character pattern generated in the character pattern storage unit 8 is generated in the character pattern generation unit 9 and displayed on the display unit as a pattern for instructing switching of channels and volume. The image of the eyeball is adjusted to the desired operation item by gazing at the desired operation item in the pattern for instructing switching of the display unit. The first identifying unit 4 identifies the position of the image of the eyeball and outputs a position signal to the second identifying unit 5. The second identifying unit identifies the pattern data of the character pattern storage unit corresponding to the position signal, and identifies the switching channel and the increase / decrease in volume. The tuner unit 6 switches the channel of the tuner unit to the identified channel, and the audio amplification unit 13 changes the volume of the audio amplification unit according to the increase or decrease of the identified volume.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to remote control operation of a television receiver, and relates to remote control operation of a television receiver by directing an eyeball to a desired pattern on the screen of the television receiver.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In recent years, the functions of television receivers have become very complicated due to the trend toward a world that requires multiple functions. The number of operation buttons for the remote control operating section for remotely operating a TV receiver has become complicated, with the number of operation buttons exceeding 40 in accordance with the performance of such a multifunctional TV receiver. Since the operation buttons are small and the characters displayed are small, it is difficult for children and the elderly to use the remote control, and it is difficult to find the content to operate.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technology. The contents of the remote control operation are displayed on the screen of the television receiver, and the remote control operation of the television is performed by pointing the eyeball and pointing.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, the camera unit that shoots the direction of the eyeball by illuminating the eyeball and shooting the reflected light, and the image captured by the camera unit is processed to move only the pupil. An image processing unit that takes out as a video signal, a display unit that displays the video signal, a remote control unit that emits an infrared signal to the television receiver, a light receiving unit that receives the infrared signal from the remote control unit and converts it into an electrical signal, and a channel. A character pattern storage unit that outputs pattern data for remote control instruction screens such as switching and volume adjustment, a character pattern generation unit that generates a character pattern generated in the character pattern storage unit, the image processing unit, and a character pattern generation unit. Image synthesizing section for synthesizing the video signals of the above, a position detecting section for detecting the position of the eyeball of the video signal of the image processing section based on the signal from the light receiving section, and a detection of the position detecting section Discriminator for discriminating character pattern data of channel switching or volume adjustment of the character pattern storage unit corresponding to the position signal, the image processing unit, the light receiving unit, the character pattern storage unit, the character pattern generation unit, and the position detection. A remote control device comprising a control unit that controls a control unit and a determination unit.

[0005]

[Action]

 According to the above configuration, the eyeball is irradiated with a light beam, the reflected light is photographed by the camera unit, and is displayed on the display unit. The character pattern generated in the character pattern storage unit is generated in the character pattern generation unit, and displayed on the display unit as a pattern for instructing switching of channels and volume. Match the eyeball image to the desired operation item by looking at the desired operation item in the pattern for switching instructions on the display section. The first identification unit identifies the position of the image of the eyeball and outputs a position signal to the second identification unit. The second discriminating unit discriminates the pattern data of the character pattern storage unit corresponding to the position signal, and discriminates the switching channel and the increase / decrease in volume. The tuner section switches the channel of the tuner section to the identified channel, and the audio amplification section changes the volume of the audio amplification section according to the increase or decrease of the identified volume.

[0006]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the remote control device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view of a remote control device of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a remote control unit, which is composed of a "remote control instruction screen" switch for switching the television receiver to a television screen and a remote control instruction screen, and an "operation confirmation" switch for designating the instruction contents when operating the remote control. An infrared signal 3 is emitted from the remote controller 1 when the "remote control instruction screen" switch and the "operation confirmation" switch are pressed. A light receiving unit 2 receives the infrared signal 3 emitted from the remote control unit 1. A display unit 15 displays a television signal or the like. A camera unit 14 irradiates the eyeball with light rays and photographs reflected light with the camera unit 14 to output a video signal. An image processing unit 17 processes the image captured by the camera unit 14 and extracts only the movement of the pupil as an image signal. Reference numeral 8 denotes a character pattern storage unit which outputs character pattern data for a remote controller instruction screen such as the channel and volume of the instruction content displayed when the remote controller is operated to the display unit 15. A character pattern generator 9 generates the output character pattern data and outputs it as a video signal. A position detection unit 4 identifies the position of the image of the eyeball of the image processing unit 17 displayed on the display unit 15 when the "operation confirmation" switch of the remote control unit 1 is pressed. A discriminating unit 5 discriminates the character data of the character pattern storage unit 8 corresponding to the position signal of the image of the eyeball recognized by the position detecting unit 4, and outputs the channel number signal when the identified data is the channel number. When the volume is increased or decreased, the volume increase / decrease signal is output. A tuner unit 6 switches the channel to the channel number output by the discriminating unit 5. Reference numeral 13 is a voice amplifier which varies the volume in response to the volume increase / decrease signal output from the discriminating unit 5. An image synthesizing unit 12 synthesizes the video signal from the character pattern generating unit 9 and the video signal from the image processing unit 17. Reference numeral 11 denotes a video switching unit, which switches between the television screen and the remote control instruction screen by operating the "remote control instruction screen" switch of the remote control unit 1. Reference numeral 10 is a first video amplification unit that amplifies the signal of the tuner unit 6. Reference numeral 16 is a second video amplifier, which amplifies the signal from the video switching unit 11. A control unit 7 includes the light receiving unit 2, the image processing unit 17, the position detection unit 4, the determination unit 5, the character pattern storage unit 8, the character pattern generation unit 9, the voice amplification unit 13, the tuner unit 6 and the video switching unit 11. To control.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the remote control device, in which reference numeral 20 is a television receiver. Reference numeral 15 is a display unit, which is composed of a cathode ray tube or the like for displaying an image. Reference numeral 21 denotes a channel switching designation area of the remote control instruction screen. Similarly, 23 is a designated area for volume increase / decrease. 2 is a light receiving part. Reference numeral 1 denotes a remote control unit, which is composed of a "remote control instruction screen" switch 24 and an "operation confirmation" switch 25. Reference numeral 22 is a center position, and a circular pattern is displayed at the center of the display unit 15. Reference numeral 26 is an image of the eyeball. The camera 14 captures the light rays that illuminate the eyeball and reflects the light, and processes the light by utilizing the difference in the reflectance between the pupil and the surroundings. When the person looks at the screen of the display unit 15, an image 26 of the eyeball appears at that position.

In the above configuration, when the “remote control instruction screen” switch 24 of the remote control unit 1 is pressed, the infrared signal 3 is emitted and the light receiving unit 2 receives the infrared signal. When the light receiving unit 2 receives the light, it outputs a signal, switches the video switching unit 11 from the TV screen to the remote control instruction screen through the control unit 7, and displays the remote control instruction screen on the display unit 15. The operator looks at the display unit 15 and looks at the center position 22 on the display unit 15, moves the eyeball image 26 to the center position 22, and if they match, presses the "operation confirmation" switch 25. The first discriminating unit 4 discriminates that the position of the image 26 of the eyeball is at the center of the display unit by operating the "operation confirmation" switch 25, and sets it as the reference value of the position signal. Next, the operator moves the eyeball image 26 to the position of channel 6 by looking at, for example, channel 6 desired in the channel switching designation area 21, and presses the "operation confirm" switch 25. The position detection unit 4 identifies the position of the image 26 of the eyeball by operating the “operation confirmation” switch 25 and outputs a position signal. The discriminating section 5 identifies the channel 6 of the character data of the character pattern storage section 8 corresponding to the position signal, and switches the tuner section 6 to the 6 channel via the control section 7. When the operator wants to decrease the volume, the operator moves the eyeball image 26 1 to the ↓ position by looking at ↓ in the volume increase / decrease designation area 23, and presses the "operation confirmation" switch 25. The position detector 4 operates the “operation confirm” switch 25 to identify the position of the image 26 of the eyeball and outputs a position signal. The discriminating unit 5 discriminates ↓ indicating an increase / decrease in the sound volume of the character data of the character pattern storage unit 8 corresponding to the position signal, and reduces the volume of the sound amplifying unit 13 via the control unit 7. When the remote control operation is completed, the "remote control instruction screen" switch 24 of the remote control unit 1 is pressed to emit the infrared signal 3 and the light receiving unit 2 receives the infrared signal. When the light receiving unit 2 receives the light, it outputs a signal, and the video switching unit 11 is switched from the remote control instruction screen to the TV screen via the control unit 7, and the TV screen is displayed on the display unit 15.

[0009]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, in the present invention, since the number of switches on the remote control operation unit is two and it is easy to handle, the number of switches is large and the operation buttons are small and the display characters are small as compared with the conventional ones. Also, it has advantages such as easy handling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a remote control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a remote control device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 remote control unit 2 light receiving unit 3 infrared signal 4 position detecting unit 5 discriminating unit 6 tuner unit 7 control unit 8 character pattern storage unit 9 character pattern generating unit 10 first video amplification unit 11 video switching unit 12 video switching unit 12 image composition Section 13 audio amplification section 14 camera section 15 display section 16 second video amplification section 17 image processing section 20 TV receiver 21 designated area 22 center position 23 designated area 24 "remote control instruction screen" switch 25 "operation confirmation" switch 26 image

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A camera unit for photographing the direction of the eyeball by irradiating the eyeball with light and photographing reflected light, and an image processing unit for processing the image photographed by the camera unit and extracting only the movement of the pupil as a video signal. , A display unit that displays video signals, a remote control unit that emits an infrared signal to a television receiver, a light receiving unit that receives an infrared signal from the remote control unit and converts it into an electrical signal, and a remote control instruction screen for channel switching, volume adjustment, etc. Pattern storage unit for outputting pattern data for use in the character pattern generation unit, a character pattern generation unit for generating the character pattern generated in the character pattern storage unit, and an image composition unit for composing the image signals of the image processing unit and the character pattern generation unit. A position detection unit that detects the position of the eyeball of the video signal of the image processing unit based on the signal from the light receiving unit, and the character that corresponds to the position signal detected by the position detection unit A discriminating unit for discriminating character pattern data for channel switching and volume adjustment in the pattern storage unit, and a control unit for controlling the image processing unit, the light receiving unit, the character pattern storage unit, the character pattern generating unit, the position detecting unit and the discriminating unit. A remote control device characterized by being configured.