JPH1165417A - Device and method for virtual pet raising and program record medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a pet in a display state wherein characteristics of an actual pet are reproduced by changing the display state of the virtual pet according to the character and feelings of an operator. SOLUTION: A living body information measurement part 15 inputs living body information on the operator which is measured through electrodes to a control part 11. The control part 11 determines the operation state of the virtual pet according to a history of raising data stored in a raising data storage part 17, characteristic data on the virtual pet stored in a characteristic data storage part 19, and living body information after normalization, determines the growing state of the virtual pet by referring to a growth scenario stored in a growth scenario storage part 20 according to a history of the raising data stored in the raising data storage part 17 and the elapsed time from the birth of the virtual pet, and reads image data corresponding to the determined operation state and growing state out of a display image data base 18 and supplies them to a display part 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention accepts input of breeding data relating to breeding work such as feeding, exercise, and administration of chemicals, and displays a growing state and an operating state based on the input breeding data. The present invention relates to a virtual pet breeding device, a method, and a program recording medium that determine a virtual pet in a determined display state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, virtual pet breeding apparatuses for breeding virtual pets on computer devices have been widely used as electronic toys. Here, the virtual pet is image data in which a real pet animal such as a dog or a cat, or an imaginary pet animal is formed into a graphic, and a result of simulated breeding and growing based on the breeding data is displayed. Is what you do. Therefore,
The virtual pet breeding device is a device for simulating the breeding operation of a pet animal by inputting breeding data and visually recognizing the display state of the virtual pet. For this reason, the conventional virtual pet breeding device accepts input operation of breeding data regarding pet breeding work such as feeding, exercise and cleaning, and administration of chemicals, for example. The growing state and the operating state of the virtual pet displayed on the screen are changed accordingly.

[0003]

However, in the conventional virtual pet breeding apparatus, the display state of the virtual pet, such as the growing state and the operating state, corresponding to the contents of the input operation by the operator is uniquely defined in advance. Since the virtual pet that grew in a predetermined state based on the contents of the breeding data pertaining to the input by the operator only displayed on the screen a state of operating in the predetermined state, the contents of the input operation Thus, it is possible to predict the growth state and the operation state of the virtual pet based on the information.

[0004] Further, in the conventional virtual pet breeding apparatus, not only the display state of the virtual pet cannot be changed in accordance with the character and emotion of the operator, but also the virtual pet actively operates on the screen. Because of this, there is a large gap between the virtual pet and the real pet, and the owner could not empathize with the pet or reproduce the characteristics of the real pet, such as resembling the owner.

[0005] For these reasons, the conventional virtual pet breeding apparatus has a problem that the operator is easily bored and is hardly used repeatedly.

An object of the present invention is to change the display state of a virtual pet in accordance with not only the content of breeding data relating to the input of the operator but also the character and emotion of the operator, thereby providing a rich display state. To provide a virtual pet breeding apparatus, method, and program recording medium that can realize and reproduce the characteristics of a real pet, can be used by the operator over and over, and are less likely to get tired of the operator. is there.

[0007]

According to the first, third, and fifth aspects of the present invention, the biological information of the operator is measured, and then the display state of the virtual pet is determined based on the measured biological information of the operator. It is characterized by doing.

[0008] In the first, third and fifth aspects of the invention, the virtual pet is displayed in a display state determined based on the biological information measured by the operator. The biological information measured by the operator changes according to the mental state of the operator. Therefore, the display state of the virtual pet displayed on the display unit reflects the mental state of the operator.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the history of the measured biological information is obtained, and the characteristics of the virtual pet are determined based on the obtained history of the biological information. The display state of the virtual pet is determined based on the characteristics of the pet.

In the inventions described in claims 2, 4 and 6, the virtual pet is displayed in a display state according to the characteristics of the virtual pet determined based on the history of the biological information measured by the operator. The history of biological information measured by the operator is
The tendency of the mental state of the operator, that is, the character of the operator is expressed. Therefore, the display state of the virtual pet reflects the character of the operator, and a virtual pet similar to the operator is displayed.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a front view and a side view of a virtual pet breeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The virtual pet breeding device 1 has a thin, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape large enough to be held by one or both hands of an operator, and has a display 2, a speaker 3, a power switch 4, a cursor key 5, a setting key 6, a cancel key, and a front. A key 7 is provided, and electrodes 8 are provided on the left and right side surfaces, and are continuous with the front and back surfaces.

The display 2 is constituted by, for example, an LCD, and displays an input member of breeding data and an image of a virtual pet. The speaker 3 utters the voice of the virtual pet. The power switch 4 is a switch for switching on / off the power stored inside. The cursor key 5 accepts a movement operation of a cursor indicating the position of the breeding data selected from the plurality of breeding data displayed on the display 2 when the breeding data is input. The setting key 6 accepts a setting input of the breeding data where the cursor is located on the display 2 displaying the breeding data input screen. The cancel key 7 accepts the cancellation of the setting input of the breeding data related to the operation of the setting key 6.

The electrode 8 comes into contact with the palm of the operator holding the virtual pet breeding apparatus 1, and measures the skin impedance and body surface temperature of the palm as biological information of the operator. The human palm sweats according to the mental state, and this mental sweating action changes the skin impedance of the palm. In addition, the body surface temperature of a person rises according to the degree of calmness of the mind. Therefore, the operator's mental state can be detected by measuring the skin impedance and body surface temperature of the palm through the electrode 8.

For example, when the skin impedance is large, the sway of the heart is low, and when the skin impedance is small, the sway of the heart is severe. When the body surface temperature is high, the mental state is calm, and when the body surface temperature is low, the mental state is calm.

Incidentally, by considering the shape of the virtual pet breeding device 1 or the shape of the electrode 8, other biological information such as a heartbeat interval may be measured by the operator.

Further, a touch panel is arranged on the surface of the display 2 in place of the cursor keys 5, and it is determined that breeding data indicated by the input key being displayed has been input to a portion of the display 2 opposite to the pressed position of the touch panel. It may be.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the virtual pet breeding apparatus. The virtual pet breeding device 1 includes a display unit 12, a voice generation unit 13, a breeding data input unit 14, a biological information measuring unit 15, a biological information storage unit 16, a breeding data storage unit 17, a display image database 18, a characteristic, The data storage unit 19 and the growth scenario storage unit 20 are connected to each other.

The display unit 12 displays the selection input unit and the image data of the virtual pet output from the control unit 11 on the display 2. The sound generator 13 drives the speaker 3 based on the sound data output from the controller 11. The breeding data input unit 14 includes a cursor key 5 and a setting key 6
The breeding data set and input by the operation of is input to the control unit 11. The biological information measurement unit 15 inputs the operator's skin impedance data and body surface temperature data measured via the electrodes 8 to the control unit 11.

The biological information storage unit 16 stores the biological information measuring unit 1
The skin impedance data and the body surface temperature data input from step 5 are cumulatively stored. Breeding data storage unit 17
Stores cumulatively the breeding data input from the breeding data input unit 14. The display image database 18 stores image data of input members and virtual pets to be displayed on the display 2. The growth scenario storage unit 20
Is composed of a plurality of growth events from birth to death of the virtual pet, and stores the process of the growth state.

As described above, since the biological information such as skin impedance data and body surface temperature data is data representing the mental state of a person, the tendency of the mental state, that is, the personality can be represented by the history of the biological information. . Therefore, the control unit 11 stores the accumulation of the skin impedance data and the body surface temperature data as the history of the biological information in the biological information storage unit 16 and operates based on the history of the biological information stored in the biological information storage unit 16. The nature of the person.

For example, when the frequency of sway of the mind is high and the degree of calmness of the mind is low, the first character is extremely easy to panic. The second character is more calm than the second, and the third character is less calm than the appearance when the degree of calmness of the mind is low and the degree of calmness of the mind is low. When the degree of calmness is high, the person has a very cool fourth character.

The control unit 11 determines the first to fourth characteristics of the virtual pet corresponding to the first to fourth characteristics of the operator determined based on the history of the measured biological information. The characteristics of the virtual pet determine the operating state of the virtual pet. For example, for the first characteristic, the operation state is "moving around, eyes are dizzy, and it frequently sounds." For the second characteristic, the operation state is "movement is slow, but eyes are dizzy, and sometimes sounds." The third characteristic is “moving around but eyes not moving and does not sound”.
With regard to the characteristic of, an operation state of "the operation is slow and the eyes do not move and does not sound" is determined. The control unit 11 stores the determined characteristics of the virtual pet in the characteristic data storage unit 19.

Further, the actual growth state and operating state of the pet change according to the breeding state. For example, pets that are over-fed are slightly overweight and perform poorly. Therefore, the control unit 11 cumulatively stores the history of the breeding data input by the operator as the breeding state of the virtual pet in the breeding data storage unit 17, and based on the breeding state stored in the breeding data storage unit 17. The growing state and the operating state of the virtual pet are determined.

For example, if it can be determined from the history of the breeding data that the nutrition and physical strength of the virtual pet are sufficient, a play growth event is selected as the growth state. Performing a play-growing event reduces the nutrition and physical strength of the virtual pet, but makes it healthy and loses weight. If it can be determined that nutrition is insufficient, a growth event that requires food is selected. By eating food, the virtual pet gains nutrition and gains weight. If it can be determined that nutrition is sufficient and physical strength is not sufficient, a sleep growth event is selected. Sleeping restores the physical strength of the virtual pet. If you can determine that your nutrition is not sufficient and you are not healthy, choose a growing event for the disease. In addition, the administration of medicines restores health.

As shown in FIG. 3, the display image database 18 stores four types of operation state images corresponding to the first to fourth characteristics of the virtual pet for each of a plurality of growth events indicating the growth state. Data is stored. The control unit 11 controls the breeding data input from the breeding data input unit 14, the skin impedance data and the body surface temperature input from the biological information measuring unit 15, the history and characteristics of the breeding data stored in the breeding data storage unit 17. Characteristics of the virtual pet stored in the data storage unit 19, and
The image data of the virtual pet to be displayed on the display 2 is read from the display image database 18 based on the growth scenario stored in the growth scenario storage unit 20.
Note that some of the image data includes voice data for generating a cry of the virtual pet via the speaker 3.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the control unit of the virtual pet breeding apparatus. When the power switch 4 is turned on, the control unit 11 stores a predetermined number of measured values of biological information sufficient to normalize skin impedance and body surface temperature, which are biological information, in the biological information storage unit 16 as initial data. It is determined whether or not it is stored (s
1). That is, the measured value of the biological information has a large individual difference, and in order to perform a constant control based on the biological information measured from an unspecified operator, the measured value of the biological information is normalized prior to the control processing, and It is necessary to absorb the difference. Therefore, the control unit 11 confirms whether or not initial data necessary for normalizing the measurement value of the biological information exists.

When a predetermined number of measured values are not stored as initial data for normalization in the biological information storage unit 16, the control unit 11 continuously measures biological information a predetermined number of times at a fixed sample timing. Then, the measured biological information is sequentially stored as initial data in the biological information storage unit 16 (s2 to s2).
s5).

Next, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the characteristic data of the virtual pet is stored in the characteristic data storage unit 19 (s6). If the characteristic data is not stored, the characteristic of the virtual pet is determined. It is determined whether or not the measured values of the biological information required for the determination are stored in the biological information storage unit 16 (s7). Here, the number of measured values required for determining the characteristics of the virtual pet is a number sufficient to determine the tendency of the mental state of the operator, and is a value sufficiently larger than the predetermined number as initial data. It is.

If the required number of measured values for determining the characteristics of the virtual pet exist in the biological information storage unit 16, the measured values stored in the biological information storage unit 16 are normalized by the initial data (s8). ), The tendency of the mental state of the operator is determined based on the normalized biological information, the characteristics of the virtual pet are determined based on the determination result, and the determined characteristics of the virtual pet are stored in the characteristic data storage unit 19 ( s
9).

The above processes s1 to s9 are executed at least when the operator uses the virtual pet breeding apparatus 1 for the first time. However, in consideration of the case where a plurality of operators use a single virtual pet breeding apparatus 1, the initial data and the characteristic data of the virtual pet are stored with individual identification data attached to each of the plurality of operators. Alternatively, the initial data and the characteristic data of the virtual pet used for the subsequent processing may be specified based on the identification data input by the operator after the power is turned on. In addition, the storage process of the initial data of s1 to s5 and the determination process of the characteristic data of s6 to s9 are executed at regular intervals in consideration of the temporal change of the biological information and the personality of the same operator. It may be.

When the initial data of the biological information and the characteristic data of the virtual pet are stored in the biological information storage unit 16 and the characteristic data storage unit 19, the control unit 11 The skin impedance and body surface temperature of the palm are measured as biological information (s10), the measured biological information is cumulatively stored in the biological information storage unit 16 (s11), and the measured values of the biological information are normalized by the initial data. (S12).

The control unit 11 reads out the history of the breeding data, the characteristics of the virtual pet, and the process of the growing state from the breeding data storage unit 17, the characteristic data storage unit 19, and the growing scenario storage unit 20 (s13), and reads these data and The image data of the virtual pet is read from the display image database 18 based on the normalized biological information (s14). Control unit 11
Displays the read image data on the screen of the display 2 via the display unit 12 (s15). A part of the image data stored in the display image database 18 includes audio data. If the image data read from the display image database 18 includes audio data, the control unit 11 reads the audio data. Voice data to voice generator 1
3 to generate the sound of the virtual pet via the speaker 3.

In the processes of s13 to s15, the control unit 11 determines the history of the breeding data stored in the breeding data storage unit 17, the characteristic data of the virtual pet stored in the characteristic data storage unit 19, and s12. The operation state of the virtual pet is determined based on the normalized biological information in. Further, the control unit 11 refers to the history of the breeding data stored in the breeding data storage unit 17 and the growth scenario stored in the growth scenario storage unit 20 based on the elapsed time from the birth of the virtual pet. To determine the growth state of the virtual pet.

Therefore, the display state such as the growing state and the operating state of the virtual pet displayed on the display 2 by the processing of s13 to s15 is based on the measurement result of the biological information of the operator
In addition, a virtual pet determined based on the history of the biological information and reflecting the mental state and personality of the operator is displayed on the display 2.

Thereafter, the control unit 11 waits for input of breeding data by an operator's key operation or for turning off the power switch 4 (s16, s17). When breeding data is input via the breeding data input unit 14, the control unit 11
Stores the input breeding data cumulatively in the breeding data storage unit 17 (s18), reads out the image data to be displayed next from the display image database 18 based on the input breeding data (s19), The read image data is supplied to the display unit 12, and the virtual pet corresponding to the breeding data is displayed on the display 2 (s2).
0). At this time, if the image data read from the display image database 18 includes audio data, the control unit 1
1 supplies the read audio data to the audio generation unit 13 in the same manner as in the processing of s15.

At s17, the operator sets the power switch 4
Is turned off, the control unit 11 stops displaying the virtual pet on the display 2 (s21), and enters the standby mode of the automatic display process. In the automatic display processing standby mode, the control unit 11 determines whether the power switch 4 is turned on (s22) and whether the elapsed time from the birth of the virtual pet matches the execution time of the growth event included in the growth scenario. It is determined whether or not the virtual pet is automatically displayed (s24) and whether or not the virtual pet is automatically displayed (s24). When the elapsed time from the birth of the virtual pet matches the execution time of the growth event, or When automatically displaying a pet, the corresponding image data is read from the display image database 18 and supplied to the display unit 12 (s25, s26).

That is, even when the power switch 4 is turned off, the control unit 11 operates by the backup power supply (not shown).
The processing of 22 to s26 is executed, and the born virtual pet grows based on the growth scenario stored in the growth scenario storage unit 20. Some of the plurality of growth events that form the growth scenario are growth events that require input of breeding data by the operator, and are determined in advance to be automatically displayed even when the power is turned off. When it is time to perform a growth event that requires input of breeding data while the power is off, the control unit 11 displays the virtual pet in a predetermined display state on the display 2 via the display unit 12 and sounds the virtual pet's cry. It occurs through the speaker 3.

Further, while the power is off, the control unit 11
For example, a process is periodically performed to select whether or not a growth event such as a bait request or a disease is to occur irregularly.
In this process, when it is determined to generate any of the growth events, the control unit 11 reads out the corresponding image data from the display image database 18 and supplies the read image data to the display unit 12. Display 2
To display the virtual pet.

In the process shown in FIG.
Step 9 is not always necessary. When the processing of s6 to s9 is not performed, the characteristics of the virtual pet are not determined.
It is not necessary to provide the characteristic data storage unit 19. In this case, the characteristics of the virtual pet are not considered in determining the display state of the virtual pet, and the growing state and the operating state of the virtual pet displayed on the display 2 are the mental state of the operator and the breeding data. Is determined based on the history of

In the processing shown in FIG.
The processing of s26 can be omitted. When the processing of s22 to s26 is not performed, the virtual pet is displayed on the display 2 only when the power switch 4 is turned on.

Further, only the processing of s1 to 5 and the processing of s10 to s15 shown in FIG. 4 may be executed. In this case, the display state of the virtual pet is determined based only on the mental state of the operator, and the display 2 displays the virtual pet in a display state reflecting only the mental state of the operator. Alternatively, only the processes of s1 to s15 shown in FIG. 4 may be executed, and the virtual pet in a display state reflecting only the mental state and personality of the operator may be displayed on the display 2.

In addition, in the process of s15 shown in FIG. 4, when it is determined that the operator is upset based on the measurement result of the biological information, the virtual pet is displayed in a display state that calms the operator's emotion. May be displayed.

Further, when the display state of the virtual pet is determined in the process of s19 shown in FIG. 4, one of a plurality of selectable growing states is irregularly selected, so that the display state of the virtual pet is random. May be given.

In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the present invention is applied to a virtual pet breeding apparatus dedicated to virtual pet breeding work, but a program for executing the processing shown in FIG. Is recorded on a recording medium such as a CDROM, so that the present invention can be similarly implemented in a general-purpose personal computer or the like. In this case, it is necessary to provide a personal computer with a measuring member including an electrode for measuring the biological information of the operator.

[0045]

According to the first, third and fifth aspects of the present invention, the mental state of the operator is reflected by displaying the virtual pet in the display state determined based on the biological information measured by the operator. The virtual pet is displayed in the displayed state, so that a variety of display states can be realized, and there is an advantage that the operator is less likely to get tired and can use the pet many times.

According to the second, fourth and sixth aspects of the present invention, the virtual pet is displayed in a display state corresponding to the characteristics of the virtual pet determined based on the history of the biological information measured by the operator. The virtual pet is displayed in a display state that reflects the personality of the operator, and the virtual pet similar to the operator can be displayed to reproduce the characteristics of the real pet. It also has the advantage that it can be used repeatedly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view and a side view of a virtual pet breeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the virtual pet breeding device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage state of image data in a display image database provided in the virtual pet breeding apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control unit of the virtual pet breeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-Virtual pet breeding device 2-Display 8-Electrode 11-Control unit 12-Display unit 14- Breeding data input unit 15-Biological information measuring unit 16-Biological information storage unit 17- Breeding data storage unit 18-Display image database 19 -Characteristic data storage

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A virtual pet breeding apparatus that receives input of breeding data related to breeding work of a virtual pet and displays the virtual pet in a display state corresponding to the input breeding data. A virtual pet breeding device comprising: a measurement unit; and a control unit that determines a display state of a virtual pet based on the biological information measured by the biological information measurement unit. 2. The control unit determines the characteristics of the virtual pet based on the history of the measurement result of the biological information in the biological information measurement unit, and determines the display state of the virtual pet based on the determined characteristics of the virtual pet. The virtual pet breeding device according to claim 1. 3. A virtual pet breeding method for receiving input of breeding data relating to breeding work of a virtual pet and displaying a virtual pet in a display state corresponding to the input breeding data, wherein biological information of an operator is measured. And determining the display state of the virtual pet based on the measured biological information of the operator. 4. A history of the measured biological information, a characteristic of the virtual pet is determined based on the obtained history of the biological information, and a display state of the virtual pet is determined based on the determined characteristic of the virtual pet. The virtual pet breeding method according to claim 3, wherein the determination is made. 5. A program including a first process for measuring biological information of an operator, and a second process for determining a display state of a virtual pet based on the measured biological information, is recorded. Virtual pet breeding program recording medium to do. 6. A process for obtaining a history of biological information, a process for determining characteristics of a virtual pet based on the history of biological information, and a display state of a virtual pet based on the characteristics of the virtual pet. The virtual pet breeding program recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the program is recorded.